Ladrien-Free June: A MariChat May Story Extension
by epcot97
Summary: Trying to escape Ladrien June? Sad MariChat May is over? We've got you covered with 30 more daily MariChat stories from ChubbyUnicornMama, DearestMrIcarus and Epcot97. Hold on tight. #MariChatForever
1. Kiss

**June 1: Kiss**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. ChubbyUnicornMama and I had such a great time with the #MariChatMay2019 prompts, we were somewhat adrift when June rolled around - especially since we tend to fall more into the MariChat camp than Ladrien. With a bit of a gentle nudge, I conned - er - managed to get her to agree to another thirty days of MariChat, but using the LadrienJune prompts. It also will allow us to continue some of the more popular storylines we created last month, although CM tells me we are **not** going to do another 10k words at a Ball. (Little does she realize…) _

_CM: *patented Ladybug eyeroll* We did half that before they even arrived at the ball..._

_Since we're both rather busy in our real life jobs this month, we added DearestMrIcarus to our happy team. Each of us have solo pieces, but more than a few were team written. We'll let you know who to blame when the time comes. _

_We also have some brand new schemes to insert ourselves into the Zag organization. Until then, though, the standard disclaimer applies: we don't own anything other than the cool Chat Noir iPhone 6 case. Too bad none of us have an iPhone 6. _

_Our first entry for the month? It was an accident. Chat was her best friend. And she was his. They should have never kissed after sharing their mutual long standing rejections. It was just a moment of weakness… the question is, will it happen again…?_

_Ep: CM, you can put away the blackmail photos. We've got Icarus for the month now._

_CM: They are NOT blackmail photos. They're motivation. Besides. June isn't written yet, is it?_

_Ic: Did someone say my name? Blackmail? What… I'm confused… but in this segment Chat and Mari are too… so at least I'm not alone._

_CM: The boys wrote this one… don't blame me!_

* * *

**_Marinette_**

His lips were softer than I had expected. I leaned in a little more, savoring the warm kiss. And then it hit me.

I had just kissed my best friend.

He must've had the same thought, because we pulled away at the same time. A look of utter bewilderment was glazed over his face, and to be honest I knew I wore a matching one.

"I-I- um… ugh… it w-was j-just a spur of the moment thing. I'm in love with yo- I mean it's not l-like I'm in love with y-you," I stuttered.

_Great. First I kissed Chat, and now I'm stuttering in front of him. Well, technically he kissed me… but I kissed back. Nice job Marinette._

He looked at me with a mix of relief and disappointment which I mirrored.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Its just I was bummed about how my love life crashed and burned, and yours was going bad… and I just… well I didn't think. Sorry Princess," he apologized rather sincerely. Strangely enough.

There was a corner of my mind that hated the sincerity of his voice; it wanted him to kiss me again. Another subconscious portion noted he had missed out on his classic "purrincess" pun.

Of course I knew that was a bad decision. I hadn't given up on Adrien just yet, and besides, it's kinda weird to kiss your best friend.

"Ugh… y-yeah… you are stupid… I mean we-We are stupid. Don't worry Chat… it'll never happen again."

As I looked into his eyes, I thought I saw a flicker of sadness. Before i could say anything more he turned to me.

"Yeah, never again… anyhow, I have a patrol with Ladybug soon, so I had better get going," he said positioning himself to leap off my balcony.

"Bye Chat! Love you…"

_Crap. I can't believe I just said that._

I was used to adding the "love you" when bidding my parent's farewell. As he lept away I had to hope that he hadn't heard that.

_It's possible, right? Maybe he didn't hear it._

Tikki crawled out of my purse as I gazed at the full moon.

"Marinette, shouldn't you be getting ready for patrol?"

"Yeah, Tikki, I should," I said feigning confidence. But really I was an utter mess. Worries buzzed through my mind. How was I going to hold myself together seeing Chat again, and why was I acting so strange?

_No time to wonder about that. Paris needs her heroes on patrol._

"Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

_**Chat Noir**_

_Did I just do that?_ I thought, feeling the residual flush on my cheeks.

My mind was a tumbled jumble of thoughts as I vaulted rooftops on the way to my meetup with Ladybug. In the space of a few seconds, my entire relationship with Marinette had been redefined. She'd been telling me how heartbroken she'd been when her latest attempt to try and tell the boy she loved had failed, miserably; it hadn't helped that I was still hurting from yet another painful conversation with Ladybug. All of my attempts to convince her that my love for her was true and not just idle flirtation had run up against the rocky shoals of her professionalism.

In that one weak moment, as Marinette tried unsuccessfully to stifle a sob, I'd known I needed to comfort her - or maybe, both of us. In a blink of an eye, I found myself kissing her. Gently, but warmly; she'd not pulled away, but had, in fact, leaned into it. I have no idea how long it lasted, but it may as well have been centuries, for the feeling was so genuine, I could have lived in that moment forever.

And then I realized I had made a move on my best friend. Fearing I had made a bad evening worse for both of us, I'd quickly pulled away and then left for patrol, but not before seeing the confusion in her face - and feeling the strange way my heart had started to leap at her touch.

I landed on the next roof and found myself slowing to a trot. I'd immediately agreed with her that it was a big mistake and had furiously apologized for crossing the line. And yet, the more I thought about it, the less I was feeling like it _had_ been a mistake. But maybe it was! I still had feelings for Ladybug, and Marinette had someone else on her radar - not this very un-smooth Chat operator.

_Man, I keep telling Ladybug I'm not a player; I've just inadvertently become one!_

Standing at the edge of the roof, I was at a crossroads literally and figuratively. For I had heard Marinette's last words to me.

_'__Love you,' she'd said. Kwami almighty, I think I might love her too…_

* * *

_**Marinette**_

I reached a tower, one of the larger ones, and beheld my Chat-er, I mean Chat. I saw Chat Noir standing on a rooftop below the one I was perched on. I took a breath. Before I jumped down to meet Chat, I had to be sure to that I wasn't going to turn into a stammering mess.

_Ok, just imagine someone else's face on his body._

I leapt down, catching a weather tower with my yoyo, and swinging down to stand next to Chat. He didn't seem to notice me, and I acted without so much as a thought.

Sliding my arms around him, I wrapped him up in an ambush bear hug, squeezing him as tight as I could. I realized my mistake the second I felt my hand brush across his defined pectorals, but at the same time I found myself wishing I could hold him like that forever.

"Guess who Kitty?" I said, as if I hadn't been passionately kissing him just minutes earlier.

I felt his muscles tense at once, and what sounded like a strained gulp. I began to let go and smiled a little bit brighter than I usually did.

_What am I doing?! What's going on. Flirty is waaaay worse than stuttery._

"It looks like someone's been working out," I said rather seductively, feeling his bicep as I finally released him.

_I'm insane. I have literally lost my mind. I'm trying to tempt Kitty. Me!_

"Ok, LB, what's wrong? Did you get hit by some Akuma that makes people uncontrollable flirts?"

"Haha, no silly Kitty, but what's wrong with some playful teasing between partners, right?"

Chat looked at me like I was having a stroke. Actually it looked more like he was worried I was dying. As I gazed deeper in those beautiful feline emeralds that he called eyes, I saw emotions run through his mind. He looked worried, then guilty, then finally relieved.

"Haha, yeah. I guess meaningless flirting isn't such a bad thing."

I cursed myself, even as the words were coming out of my mouth. "Kitty, who said anything about MEANINGLESS?"

_Marinette, you absolute idiot! What are you doing?! _

Chat looked at me again, this time with absolute horror.

"Ok, Ladybug, well we better get patrolling… Let's split up today, you can take the west side, I'll take the east side," he suggested, and I accepted. I could use some time to think.

He helicoptered away in that cute way that he always did. I waited til he was barely out of earshot to confess my secret. "Kitty, I love you."

As I lassoed my way through the twinkling Parisian streets, I saw no trouble, save the internal turmoil I was facing. I had feelings for my partner. Undeniable feelings. But I couldn't quite shake my feelings for Adrien, though I had to admit, I was starting to feel more strongly about Chat than Adrien.

_How do I switch between Adrien and Chat in one night?! Why can't they be the same person?_

* * *

_**Chat Noir**_

My mind couldn't shake the intense memory of Ladybug's touch.

I was so focused internally that I nearly crashed into a chimney, managing at the last minute to appear to anyone watching my movements to have simply dropped to a rooftop in a standard cat crouch. But I was feeling anything but normal.

Ladybug had been acting strange from the moment she appeared at our rendezvous spot; in some ways, it felt like our roles had flipped entirely. She'd quickly assured me she was fine, but the whole experience had rattled me badly enough that I'd hastily decamped for patrol, looking for a little space to come to terms with what had just transpired. Then my feline hearing picked up something on the wind - faint, but decipherable - that changed everything.

_Kitty, I love you._

How I had once ached to hear those very words from Ladybug!

There had been a time, not long ago, when I would have done _anything_ to prove to her how she owned my heart. But she'd made it plain to me that there was no there _there_ and would likely never be; I knew I still had feelings for her, but they had been packed up and boxed away. It had freed my heart up for someone else, and that very evening Marinette had stepped right through that open door with a kiss.

_Dear Kwami, I've fallen in love with my best friend!_ I thought, realizing that kiss had been hanging between us for some time. It had just taken one final rejection from Ladybug to see what was directly in front of me. I was certain Marinette was feeling the same way.

But now I wasn't entirely sure Ladybug _had_ rejected me. Her actions this evening had torn the lid right off the box I'd carefully stowed my feelings for her - especially that embrace, which just thinking about flamed my cheeks. Unless I was utterly incapable of reading people, she'd just thrown herself at me, figuratively and literally.

_'__Kitty, who said anything about meaningless?'_ _she had said. Who indeed?_ I thought.

But Marinette had said she loved me, too. How on Earth had I gone from zero to two in less than an hour? The whiplash was making my masked eyes cross. But the look I'd seen in those deep, deep blue eyes of Marinette spoke to the truth of her emotion, nearly as much as Ladybug's own actions had mere moments ago.

I stared out across the night skyline of Paris, for once not even noticing the sparkles of the evening or the twinkling of the stars above. The more I turned it over in my head, the more I realized there was only one path forward: my future was with Marinette, despite any lingering attraction I might harbor for my partner. I just had no idea how to proceed, knowing that in declaring for one, I was going to hurt the other.

I vaulted into the night, decision somewhat made, and finished my part of patrol before heading to the mansion for likely a sleepless night, alone with my thoughts.

* * *

_**Marinette**_

I stared at the ceiling, begging myself to sleep. But the thoughts returned.

_Do I pick Chat? Who I've always thought of as a nothing more than a friend, or Adrien? Who has always dismissed me for that same reason?_

Everything was a mess, and I was painfully aware. And what was worse was my Kwami's uncharacteristic ambivalence.

"Tikki, I'm in love with Adrien, but I'm also in love with Chat. What do I do?" I begged, knowing that I would accept either answer from Tikki.

She turned to me and smiled as if she knew something I didn't.

"Marinette, you should follow your heart!" The Kwami called, returning to her trite phrases. I usually accepted them at face value, but today I wasn't in the mood. I was twitterpated, and lovestruck, and enamored… but with two very different boys.

"Ok, good advice Tikki. I'll follow my heart and marry both of them. I'll get things into action tomorrow!"

Tikki either missed my sarcasm, or thought something was funny about it, because she smiled as if my idea of entertaining two suitors was a good one.

Fortunately for me, sleep finally overpowered my weary frame and I allowed my consciousness to slip away, leaving my problems behind.

When I awoke in the morning, I smiled, forgetting the conundrum that came from the evening before.

_Another wonderful day to see Adrien._

And then it hit me as the memories flooded in.

_Oh… Adrien… and Chat. Shoot._

My mind raced, trying to calculate how to react when I saw Adrien. I could try to flirt, or ignore him because I end up lost in thoughts of Chat, or I could just see what happens.

_I'll just wing it. That should work, right?_

With my indecisive decision made, I quickly prepared for school, then headed out the door, right after wishing my parents a good day.

I ran across the street, straight to school, and into Madame Bustier's class. As I entered the room, I saw one other person there. Adrien Agreste.

_Of course Adrien and I are the only people here. _

A part of me felt bitterness towards the cruelty of coincidence, while a part of my heart hoped this was a signal from fate.

He turned to look at me, and offered a smile that melted my heart. He looked like he had gone from seeing me as a friend to staring at the love of his life.

"Hey, Mari, you're here early," he remarked.

_Great. Time for stutterfest, now with twice the awkwardness._

"Haha, yeah I skipped breakfast today. How are you doing Adrien?"

_What the heck? I didn't mess up at all. That was a purrfect sentence… wait did I just think a pun to myself?_

It was at that moment that I made a decision. I picked my boy: Adrien Agreste.

Without thought, I pulled him into a hug and was surprised to find his strong arms wrapped themselves around me in return.

I let my heart feel what it wanted, completely unfettered by worry or doubt. I felt my love for Adrien grow, and within a second it felt like it had doubled. And then I realized something else. In that same unguarded moment, I had felt my love for Chat grow tenfold.

It took only a moment to process, but I quickly recovered.

I pulled out of the hug and smiled at Adrien.

"What was that for?" He questioned.

I felt tears gather in my eyes as I spoke my next words.

"I just wanted to say thank you for being my friend. I'm glad we have this friendship. I couldn't ask for anything more."

I stopped the tears, or at least most of them. A single drop slid down my cheek. A solemn reminder that I really had loved Adrien, but my heart still chose Chat.

* * *

_**Adrien/Chat**_

I thought it would be awkward seeing Marinette at school the next morning. I hadn't slept at all after returning from patrol, and stared at my ceiling trying to poke holes in my decision. I wound up vaulting out the bedroom window and stationed myself on a nearby rooftop to take in the stunning sunrise. As I watched the sun appear over the roofline of Paris, I finally found the solace I'd been seeking in the warm rays poking through the clouds.

I knew what to do.

I returned to the mansion and went through my morning routine at top speed, and even managed to get Gorilla to take me to school earlier than normal. Ladybug Luck was on my side as I was the only student in the classroom when Marinette arrived just a few minutes behind me. It was unusual for her to be early, but I didn't have much time to think about it - I'd smiled at her warmly, seeing her through new eyes that made me appreciate her all the more.

I think I said something to her - it's hard to remember now - but was startled to be drawn into a hug. Without thinking, I returned the embrace wholeheartedly; after all, I now knew in my heart she was the love of my life.

_Well, Chat's life?_ This was going to be confusing.

"What was that for?" I asked, smiling, as we pulled away. Marinette's eyes were glistening and I faltered a bit.

_Did I said something wrong? Way to go, Chat._

"I just wanted to say thank you for being my friend; I'm glad we have this friendship." Her voice caught, and a single tear started down her cheek. "I couldn't ask for anything more."

I pulled her back to me. "Me, too," I said, though it was loaded with subtext I was sure she wouldn't understand. At least, not yet. "I'm so lucky to know you, Marinette."

She was no longer stuttering, I realized; and her touch was solid but not tense. Maybe, just maybe, there was a middle road here that I could navigate. This was a promising first step.

We didn't have time to unpack any further. The door opened and we parted immediately as our fellow students filed in for the day. I caught Marinette as we broke for lunch and asked if she wanted to catch a bite to eat.

"I can't, Adrien," she said, smiling. "Not that I wouldn't want to - but I'm taking my lunch at the Bakery today. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Of course, Purr-Marinette," I said, barely catching myself.

Marinette headed for the doors, and I found a quiet corner to transform to Chat Noir and bolted for the sky. I managed to beat her to the Bakery, and was calmly sitting on the railing ringing her rooftop patio when she pushed through the skylight.

"Chat?" she said, surprised. "You're not usually a daytime visitor," she laughed.

"Special circumstances," I smiled. "I thought I might follow up on our discussion from last evening."

Her face flushed a bit at the reminder, but she remained composed. "Look, Chat-"

I tumbled off the railing and landed next to her, and gently drew her into me. "Princess," I started, "I - well, to be honest -" I gave up and simply leaned in, kissing her deeply.

"That," I said as we pulled apart.

She looked into my masked eyes and seemed to intuitively understand. My heart leaped: we _were_ on the same wavelength. "What about Ladybug?" she asked.

"I will always have her in my heart," I said honestly. "But you _own_ it." I paused. "And how about that other guy?"

Marinette smiled. "The same," she said, "but my heart belongs to you." She kissed me again. "Completely."

I hugged her again, pulling her tight against my costumed chest and burying my head in her hair. I couldn't believe I'd finally found what I was looking for. All because of a kiss.


	2. Famous

**June 2: Famous**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here and this is day two of our counterprogramming for Ladrien June, because, well, MariChat is just more in our wheelhouse. Today we take a look at what it means to be Famous - but through my warped interpretation of the word._

_Now that DearestMrIcarus has joined our team, ChubbyUnicornMama and I have again begun our pursuit of some ownership stake in Miraculous. Our patent lawyer, however, has informed us that someone else created the "animated motion picture" before us, so it appears we are once again out of luck._

_CM: *Channeling my inner 5 year old* oh yeah? Well, I licked it, so it's mine now!_

_Patent Lawyer: I'm doubling my fee, and you might want to get a civil attorney, too._

_Ic: If there's one thing I learned about being a five year old, it's being nice goes a long way. Maybe if we ask nicely, they'll give it to us._

* * *

Chat was running late.

Marinette had asked him a few days earlier to make an appearance at the Bakery that evening as she'd said she needed his help with something. Not one to pass up an opportunity to spend time with his Princess, he'd immediately agreed to be there, and then life reared up and threw curveball after curveball at him in an attempt to prove he was incapable of keeping a simple promise.

The trouble started shortly after he'd vaulted out of his bedroom window at the mansion. As he sailed over the first set of rooftops, his feline ears immediately detected a vague humming noise that seemed to be paralleling his movement. Circling back around, he quickly located a small camera drone wearing the logo of the local news station. He was reasonably certain he'd picked it up some distance from the mansion, but just to be on the safe side, he led it on a merry route across half of the city before it was forced to return to its home port.

Now somewhat late, he'd started out again for the Bakery, only this time to discover that a satellite news van was now tracking him from the street. He'd leap over one rooftop only to see it swerve around an alleyway, it's camera pointed up at him. Once more, he re-routed to the far side of Paris, ultimately losing the news truck in a more industrial area.

Chat was now very, very late, and started a speed-route toward the Bakery. Halfway there, the news helicopter appeared on the horizon, and made a beeline directly toward him. Wondering how he had managed to attract such attention on a random Thursday, he started to get a little hot under the mask. This time he helicoptered toward the helicopter, landing on one of the skis, and knocked on the window.

A very surprised looking camera operator slid the passenger area's hatch open. "Chat?" he hollered over the sound of the rotor. The pilot was managing to accommodate the extra weight Chat added by perching on the gear.

"I'm getting a bit furustrated," Chat said. "What's the deal?"

"With what?" he hollered back.

"You're the third crew I've had trailing me this evening. Did I make the news for something?"

The guy nodded. "We got a tip you have a girlfriend," he yelled. "Every news outlet is on it."

Chat rolled his eyes. "_Seriously_? Don't you have more important things to cover?"

He didn't let him respond before falling backwards off the helicopter and diving away from them. Chat helicoptered toward a rooftop and ducked behind a chimney, waiting for them to pass and wondering who had planted that rumor. He had a pretty good idea.

Chat managed to avoid the circling copter, and once it was far enough out of range, he rolled off the rooftop and dove toward the ground, opting for a more traditional cat-like approach to avoid detection. Keeping to the dark back alleys of Paris, he crossed the city and finally arrived at the Bakery a good two hours past his promised arrival. Carefully clawing his way up the rear of the building, he pulled himself over the edge and perched atop the brick wall, looking down at the rooftop patio.

Marinette was pacing the small space, and Chat was certain he could see steam pouring from her ears. For a brief moment he considered falling back into the darkness but swallowed instead. "Hello, Princess," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Chat Noir! Where have you _been_?"

He dropped off the brick wall and landed atop the railing beside her. "Commuter traffic was clawful," he said. "For some reason, the entire city's news operations are out to determine who my girlfriend is." He blinked his masked green eyes as he looked at her earnestly. "I think, Princess, we have a leak."

Her eyes went wide. "There's no way!" she said, forgetting for a moment that her kitty had nearly stood her up. "We've been pretty circumspect. You usually meet me here, and in the random cases when we meet elsewhere, you're usually in the hoodie and sweats combo. I can't imagine-"

At that moment, the skylight popped open, and Sabine poked her head out. "Ah, Chat, you are here!" she said, smiling. "I thought I heard you on the roof. Would you like some fresh coffee?"

Chat and Marinette both looked at each other, then back to Sabine. "Maman," Marinette said carefully, "you, uh, haven't mentioned my nightly visitor to anyone, have you?"

"Of course not, dear," Sabine replied sweetly. "Your father and I take your privacy seriously. I told that to your friend, Alya, just the other day."

Chat's eyes narrowed as he saw Marinette's surprised look. "Alya?" he said, turning back to Sabine. "What did she happen to ask you?"

"Oh," Sabine said, suddenly realizing that she might, possibly, have divulged too much information. "Well, I guess she asked if either Ladybug or Chat Noir had ever stopped by the Bakery."

Chat stared at her. "What, _exactly_, did you tell her?"

Sabine looked more unsettled. "Well, dear, I told her honestly that Ladybug has only been here a handful of times; I might have mentioned, uh, that Chat Noir was a… uh... slightly more frequent visitor…"

"_Maman_!" Marinette cried, blush creeping up her face.

To her horror, Chat was actually chuckling. "Sorry, Purrincess," he said as he laughed. "That's what happens when you date someone famous…"


	3. Couple

**June 3: Couple**

_Authors Note: Epcot97 here. I'd decided I wanted to revisit Chat and Marinette in that apartment we introduced during #MariChatMay2019. I found myself wondering what sort of comedic gold might exist in those first few months while they figured out how to make the situation work. ChubbyUnicornMama agreed to co-write this voyage of discovery, which means I have no idea where this journey will now take us. I keep reminding her that this has to fit between "Roommates" and "Ice Skating" and she keeps cackling at me._

_CM: And pointing out that we don't need to cover every second of those months. _

_Ep: Oh, snap. (deletes two hundred pages)_

_Ic: Yeah, Ep. The readers don't want to read a giant story. (Psst. Ep, do you mind sending me a copy of those two hundred pages? I promise I won't tell CM)._

_CM: Trust me… you don't need to see the finer points of how Chat uses the bathroom at 2 am. _

_We're turning over a new leaf and decided to send tea to the producers of _Miraculous_ in our attempt to sway them to our side. No word yet on whether we've bagged the job._

* * *

**Day One**

**Marinette**

I can't believe I'm doing this. It is absolutely insane. I mean, yes. Most couples move in together at some point. But then again, most people aren't hiding a secret identity from their significant other. And both my boyfriend and I are doing that. I know that he's Chat Noir, but have no idea who he is outside of the costume. He knows that I'm Marinette, but has no idea that I'm also his partner, Ladybug. This living together without giving up our secrets? I'm a nervous wreck. Plus, Plagg is going to hate me, making Chat stay transformed whenever I'm around. He's going to kill me. I'm definitely going to keep the place well stocked with camembert. We haven't had any problems so far. True, I only moved in an hour ago, but still…

Telling my parents that I was moving in with my boyfriend wasn't as bad as I thought. They knew Chat and I were dating before I knew we were. They trust him and me, and the fact that he can't take his suit off makes my father very happy.

**Chat Noir**

I'd decided not to move anything remotely recognizable as Adrien into the apartment; I didn't want the entire house of cards to crash down on me if she saw a stray House of Gabriel sock lying around. I even created a whole new account on my laptop just for Chat Noir (with plenty of Marinette photos on the screensaver). All the same, I am a bit wound up about how I'm going to pull off keeping my true identity hidden from the woman I love. Plagg has already started to complain about staying transformed for hours at a time, forcing me into higher and higher tiers of aged camembert just to placate him.

I had plenty of time to help Marinette get her stuff moved in today since it was an off day from the modelling agency for me. Having super strength turned out to be a bonus, as I was a bit surprised at how much she'd packed into that little bedroom of hers at the Bakery. On the last run out the door, Tom was looking at me funny; thinking I knew what was troubling him, I reminded him that the costume couldn't come off. That seemed to solve something for him, and he pressed a bag of croissants into my free paw.

I don't know what to tell her, but I can smell the camembert she tried to sneak in. I can't remember if I told her that's what Plagg liked or not; I don't know what I'm going to do if she offers it to _me_ \- I can't stand the stuff!

* * *

**Day 5**

**Marinette**

It hasn't even been a week yet, and I almost blew it. I was racing to get home before Chat after our last Akuma attack, when I saw him out the corner of my eye on a rooftop a couple of streets away. I immediately flattened myself against the chimney and hid out of sight. Great. Now I needed an excuse for Marinette to be out, as I was home when he left. Dropping down in the alley behind our neighborhood market, I dropped my transformation, and nipped into the store to pick up a wheel of camembert, a little chicken, some cookies and a bottle of wine.

I headed back to our apartment from the store, thinking of a recipe I could try for dinner, and wondering how I was going to survive living with Chat. I was worried about how much time he spent transformed, and resolved to talk to Tikki about it that evening. Maybe I could make him something he could wear around the house, so that he wasn't always transformed. Or maybe I could tell him about my other identity. It might make day to day living easier, even if we had to be that much more careful around Hawkmoth. We were living together, it wouldn't be any worse for me, because Hawkmoth could just as easily find that out and use me to get to Chat that way.

Arriving back at our apartment, I started getting things together in the kitchen for dinner. I called out to Chat, assuming he was his civilian self in his room, allowing Plagg to recharge. I'd leave Plagg some extra cheese tonight after Chat had gone to bed. I knew that he and Tikki were able to hang out in the evenings when Chat shut himself up in his bedroom, but he deserved more than that, for all the time he kept Chat in Chat Noir form.

As the scents of coq au vin filled the apartment, Chat emerged from his room. Tikki was holed up in mine with the cookies I'd bought at the market. I asked him about the akuma attack, since I couldn't really ask him about how his day had gone, since I didn't really know what he did all day. He told me all about it, which relieved any remaining doubts I'd had about him spotting me on my way home. (Oh no. I accidentally punned. I've definitely been spending too much time with Chat.)

After we ate, we snuggled on the couch,with a movie playing in the background. It was nice to spend time with him like we used to, but not have to worry about anyone walking in on us, or worrying if Chat had to be home by a certain time.

Later that night, after Chat had retired to his room, I had a whispered conversation with Tikki about the thoughts swirling around in my head. As I suspected she would, she gave an immediate 'no' to the idea of revealing myself to my partner, but took a little extra time to think about the disguise idea, ultimately deciding that, at the moment, it would be a bit too dangerous to have the civilian side of Chat around the apartment.

**Chat Noir**

The akuma hit not long after I'd returned to the apartment from a long photo shoot at the park. I'd barely had time to say hello to Marinette before I'd hurled myself back out the balcony doors toward the shrieks. Ladybug joined me fairly quickly, making short work of the attack. She'd had to bug out afterward with chirping earrings, and my ring forced me to take a speed route back to the apartment.

I'd not yet found a happy-medium with Plagg in terms of how long I stayed transformed, and as a consequence, he'd taken the opportunity of the photo shoot to clean out my supply of cheese I carried in my satchel. While I was normally more careful with my path, not wanting to draw inadvertent attention to either where I lived or the person I was sharing the space with, the relentless countdown had me shaving a few corners and running across a few rooftops I'd normally not use. Hopefully no one had noticed.

Oddly, when I landed back in the apartment, Marinette was out. That wasn't a big deal, but it surprised me a bit. But I detransformed within the safety of my bedroom and quickly fished out a wheel of camembert for Plagg. He bolted the first third of the wheel before he'd even look at me, and even then, it was with narrowed eyes.

"All _right_," I said. "I'll detransform tonight and you can get a decent night's rest." I waited a beat. "Besides, I've already torn three sets of sheets with my claws."

Plagg simply plowed through another slice, but the eyes looked a little more normal to me.

I heard the door to the apartment, and a moment later Marinette called out. Plagg rolled his eyes and mowed through the remaining cheese, well aware I was going to call upon him so I could rejoin Marinette in the main space. The rest of the evening was wonderful; as enjoyable as our evenings atop the Bakery had been, the ability for us to be ourselves, together, in our own space was truly magical.

Once we'd parted for the evening, I retired to my room and made good on my promise to Plagg. As I snuggled under my fourth set of sheets, the guilt I'd been carrying regarding staying transformed began to wash over me. I knew I was slightly crossing a line using the Miraculous magic for personal reasons, and it tugged at my conscience; looking at Plagg as he floated over by the dresser, eating cheese and flipping through the paper, I decided "slightly" might be an exaggeration. I resolved to try and minimize the hardship on my tiny friend moving forward as much as I could.

* * *

**Day 40**

**Chat Noir**

It's become a comfortable pattern now, although I'm not sure I will ever get used to fighting an akuma with Ladybug and then spending the night with a good bottle of wine and the most important person in my universe. Granted, I've been sponsoring the wine given how terrible the pay is for Marinette at her gig. But she is so excited at the work she's been doing; she's even caught the eye of one of the senior designers at the firm, who has asked her to submit some sketches for next spring's massive show. That's a task that normally would go to someone with more years under her belt, so it proves my contention that Marinette is all that and more.

The last few nights, I've been perched on the coffee table, wineglass in one paw, watching Marinette as she works through her design process. She gave up trying to chase me off the table a few weeks after we moved in. I reasoned it was a purrfect spot for me: easily in reach for the odd scratch behind the ear, especially during those moments when she was flummoxed on a particular element. My role, as I viewed it, was to be her biggest cheerleader, offering a hug or a massive purr as needed to keep her creative process flowing. I was also careful _not_ to provide any advice, given my own ties to the fashion industry; one wrong comment and I knew her brain would start to make connections it shouldn't.

Well, maybe a little advice. She had one suit ensemble that would be a killer if worn by a particular blonde haired, green eyed supermodel. I filed that away for later while carefully making sure that design stayed in the mix.

Plagg had more or less stopped grumbling at me, especially now that I'd carved out specific times to allow him a break. He also had begun to wear a bit of an expectant expression when I changed for bed; I was reasonably sure he was sneaking off somewhere after I turned out the lights, but thought better of asking him. I knew he'd not go far in case I needed to transform for an emergency. But the fact he _was_ skulking around was intriguing and bore further investigation.

**Marinette**

I'd made it a point of leaving our a plate of camembert and cookies after Chat Noir had transformed into his civilian self for the night. It was the least I could do for Plagg, keeping his chosen transformed for so long, and, naturally, I couldn't do something for Plagg without doing something for Tikki.

I'm worried that Chat is starting to suspect that I'm Ladybug. I know he's been grumbling about Plagg being sneaky, and I think he knows that Plagg sneaks out to hang with Tikki at night. Which means he knows I'm Ladybug. He's been awfully shifty around Ladybug recently.

* * *

**Day 43**

**Marinette**

So, apparently Chat's mad because Plagg let slip that I've been leaving him cheese at night. He was threatening Plagg with lower quality cheese, and the little kwami said that was fine, he'd just wait until I put out his nightly plate. Chat knows me well enough to know that I'm going to feed _anyone_ living under my roof!

Last night, Chat Noir confessed to me (well, Ladybug me) that he'd moved in with his girlfriend. I wasn't entirely sure how to react to that. I mean, I _knew_ that he'd moved in with his girlfriend, since I was his girlfriend, and he'd moved in with me, but, for the life of me, I couldn't remember how much he'd told Ladybug about his girlfriend. Me. He'd asked me to meet up with him that evening, after the latest akuma attack; a strange blue man who called himself Achatina, and caused the world around him to slow down. I had promised I would.

When I arrived, he seemed very serious, which made me nervous. Not sure what was about to happen, although fairly certain he didn't know I was Marinette, otherwise he would have confronted me in our apartment, rather than out here, I sat next to him, leaning up against girder, and asked him what was bothering him.

He smiled at me, and said that he needed to confess something. That for 6 weeks, he had been living with his girlfriend. He said that he felt that I should know, although he wasn't seeking permission. Taking my hand, he reiterated his promise of long ago that he would not reveal himself to anyone, until it was deemed safe to do so. He just wanted me to know out of respect for me as a partner. He also added that he was living with his girlfriend as Chat Noir, so that she didn't know his civilian name, and he was worried that if word got out about them, that it would put her in danger.

We talked for hours about the potential ramifications of them living together, what he was doing to protect her, and how he was taking every precaution to prevent an accidental reveal. He said that he had talked all of this over with Plagg, and, while not happy with the arrangement, Plagg was amenable enough to the living arrangement. "Probably because my girlfriend has been feeding him extra cheese behind my back." Chat acknowledged bitterly.

It was a relief, in a way, to have this conversation with Chat. I'd had a similar one with him as Marinette, but we didn't talk in as much detail as we could transformed. All in all, the first six weeks went much smoother than I had imagined they possibly could. I was looking forward to really being able to settle into a rhythm together.

* * *

**Day 52**

**Chat Noir**

I'd not quite gotten over the fact that Marinette was sneaking cheese to Plagg, but was finding it more endearing than irritating. It was so like her to take care of even a kwami; just one of a million tiny reasons why I was in love with her. For his part, Plagg seemed to have settled into the situation far better than I'd expected. I continued to turn a blind eye to his own nightly jaunts, but couldn't help occasionally trying to pry out of him who he might be visiting.

Plagg opted to keep his own council on that front.

Our first extended time away from each other happened as August faded into September; I'd been booked for a cover shoot in Mallorca to showcase the upcoming holiday line for House of Gabriel. Why we would be strutting around a beach in full three piece suits was beyond me, but I went where the work was. I'd had to clear it with Ladybug, of course, though I couldn't be terribly specific about why I'd be missing for a week. The conversation had been similar with Marinette.

I'd softened the blow with a catered dinner, and over a glass of wine, told her I'd have to be away for a bit. "My day gig requires some travel from time to time," I said. "I'll only be gone for a few days." I smiled at her. "I'd love to take you with me," I started. "This destination is kind of exotic-"

"Stop," Marinette said.

I paused, startled, and felt a bit of a flush starting. "Whoops." I sipped the wine. "Maybe I was lying to you," I laughed sheepishly, immediately realizing how close I'd come to revealing a tidbit from my alter-ego. "For all you know, I'm a sanitation engineer and going on a field trip to a soon-to-close landfill."

That made her smile. "Now I _know_ you're lying," she laughed.

"Why?"

"Well, you'd have to have been one heck of an engineer to afford this place," she pointed out.

I smiled my Chat smile. "Maybe I found buried gold out there in the trash…"

She leaned over and brushed a lock of hair away from my mask. "Right, Chaton," she said sagely, before planting a rather sensual kiss on me.

* * *

**Day 57**

**Marinette**

Chat Noir wasn't lying about going somewhere exotic. Even though there were only about 40 square inches of his body visible, I could tell he'd been spending time in the sun, and had gained a nice tan. I had missed him, we'd spoken only once on the phone, but he'd warned me that it was hard for him to sneak away from everyone long enough to transform, and it might be a bit strange for Chat Noir to turn up in areas far away from Paris. I understood, but I missed him. The apartment seems so quiet without him.

* * *

**Day 75**

**Marinette**

Day one of Fashion week. My first as an actual designer. I even had a few pieces in one of the smaller shows. I'd warned Chat a few weeks ago, about how hectic my life was going to be for the entire month of September, but he seemed to take it in stride, saying that he was going to be busy himself the last few weeks of the month.

I was here, it was chaos, and I was in Heaven. My designs had raised some buzz, and, although my part of the show wasn't for a few more days, I was busy talking with people from other fashion houses, helping my co-workers with their last minute alterations and other last minute emergencies.

I was running over to help my co-worker Leonie carrying a swath of hunter green silk under one arm and two bottles of water in my opposite hand. Rounding a corner, I collide with a solid mass of human, and ricochet off, bouncing twice on the ground before coming to rest with the fabric covering my face. I immediately started apologizing, even before I'd uncovered my heavily blushing face, only to look up and see that I'd literally run into an old friend. "Hi Adrien!" I said, breathlessly. "I am so sorry for running into you! I have to take this to Leonie. I guess you've been thrown into the madness this week, too!"

He chuckled and extended a hand to help me to my feet. I hopped up and refolded the cloth that I was carrying. Adrien handed me the two water bottles, his hand lingering a few seconds longer than I expected it to.

I shrugged that thought away, knowing it was just an overactive imagination, playing on the wishes of 14 year old Marinette. I waved at him, and made him promise that we'd catch up later, after the week was over. He just smiled and said I'd see him around.

**Chat Noir**

Fashion week always left me wiped, but this year (despite how my tail was dragging) I thought it would be important to celebrate Marinette's first successful show. Thankfully, the mask hid the dark circles under my eyes and a carefully calibrated flow of coffee kept me sounding more energetic than I actually felt.

Sure, she'd only had a few items in the show, and maybe it had been a secondary venue, but I wanted her to know it was a big step. And that I was prepared to support her all the way to the top of the industry.

Seeing that we really couldn't go to a five star restaurant, I placed an order with my favorite Italian bistro for pickup that Saturday evening. While I waited for Marinette to return from her final duties at the show, I prepped my favorite rooftop with candles and roses, a small checkered tablecloth and two comfy pillows for seating. Then I returned to the apartment and ensconced myself atop the coffee table to await her return, folded into my patient cat stance.

And waited.

And waited.

At some point, I must have nodded off, for a gentle shake to my shoulder woke me with a start. I nearly flew off the table and landed on the floor in my pounce-crouch, but managed to hold that impulse back at the last moment when I recognized Marinette's scent.

"Purrincess?" I said, shaking the last vestiges of sleep from my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Half past one," she said. "How long have you been waiting?"

I thought about possible responses to that, ranging from total snark to the truth, I opted for the high road. "A bit." I smiled at her. "Celebrating, I see," I added, trying not to wrinkle my nose. I could tell she'd been toasting with champagne, but something on the more affordable end of the spectrum.

"Yes," she smiled. "My boss took all of us out - we scored a huge order as a result of the show!"

Hiding my disappointment beneath my joy at her success, I slid off the table and pulled her into a massive hug. "That is awesome, Mari," I said, leaning in to kiss her. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Chat," she said.

After saying goodnight, I closed the bedroom door and slid back against it. I was truly happy for her but was definitely sad that I'd not been the one who'd been with her for that first milestone. It would have to be enough to have shared the moment with her just now. Sighing, I dragged myself to the slider and vaulted out into the early morning to clean up my surprise dinner.

* * *

**Day 145**

**Marinette**

After Fashion Week, things settled down into a comfortable routine. Chat and I had worked out any bumps that we'd had in our living arrangement. I realized that I would never get him to stop sitting on the coffee table, and he knew I was going to continue to feed Plagg behind his back. Plagg, Tikki and I had actually had several conversations about the situation, after Chat was well and truly asleep, and both agreed that it would not be a bad thing if I made him a mask and a deep hoodie for him to wear around the house, so that Plagg could catch a break.

Since I (and ultimately Tikki) were the ones who were insisting on keeping our secret identities secret, neither worried about me giving into the temptation to peek, although admittedly it was there.

I decided on a black hoodie with lime green accents, and I would embroider a paw print on the front. I got some soft black fleece for the winter, and was having fun sewing it. I even added cat ears to the top of the hood, so he would look like my kitty. The quarter zipper at the top of the sweatshirt would be lime green, as would be the stitching. I found a soft felt for the mask, which wouldn't hide his eyes completely, as I assumed they were not entirely green in his civilian form, otherwise his identity would have been made obvious years ago.

I was excited to start on the project, but had to wait several days until Chat informed me that he would be working all weekend, and I was given the opportunity to actually work on the hoodie without Chat around. I could knit him the gloves while he was around. Just plain black ones to cover up his hands, if he wanted. I'd need to think of something for him to wear in warmer months (maybe a cotton or bamboo silk hoodie, full coverage, but breathable. Much better than magical black leather). I couldn't wait until Christmas to see what he thought.

* * *

**Day 167**

**Chat**

I'd scuttled back to the changing room at the ice rink and had dropped my special Ice transformation in favor of Normal Chat, then airlifted Marinette back to our apartment so we could spend the rest of Christmas Day cozily ensconced with good food and divine company. Our first half-year had gone by faster than I'd realized, and I was pleased that she'd liked my somewhat corny but very romantic side trip.

After settling back in on the coffee table, I saw her fiddling with the ring I'd given her. "It suits you purrfectly," I said fondly as I gently leapt to her side on the couch and curled up against her. Despite myself, I found I was purring slightly, and she reached over to scratch that spot between my ears - which only made the purring louder. I sighed. This couldn't be any better, especially for an overgrown kid who'd not celebrated this particular holiday with anyone special in a long, long time.

"Before you take a catnap on me," Marinette said, rousting me slightly, "I have a gift for you."

"I'm not sleeping!" I protested, but the moment had, admittedly, made me a bit more comfortable than I'd realized. I pulled my head back from her shoulder. "What did you get me?"

"It's under the tree, Chat."

Now I was channeling my inner kid, for in a flash I'd vaulted to the tree and squeezed myself as far under it as I could, tail excitedly wiggling in the process. There was a square box way in the back that I was sure hadn't been there when I'd hidden her skates the prior evening, making me wonder if a certain someone had been snooping. I slid it out, careful not to tear the red foil wrapping with an errant claw while also trying to ignore the ribbon expertly tied upon the top.

Those cat impulses were becoming harder to manage!

Taking my treasure under an arm, I landed back on the couch. "What is it?" I asked, making a great show of sniffing it. "Not baked goods, I see."

"No," she laughed. "Those are back in the kitchen."

I slid a claw around the edge of the cover, expertly slicing the paper away. Restraining myself, I slipped the paper off and removed the cover; my self control slipped when I saw the tissue paper, though, and I spent a fraction of a second shredding the top layer before the laughing in the seat next to me returned some sanity to the moment.

Eyeing Marinette critically, I removed what was left of the paper, revealing a hand-sewn fleece sweatshirt in black, with an embroidered version of my logo. As I unfolded it, I saw it had a hoodie with two little black cat ears. I grinned widely as I turned to Marinette. "This is awesome!" I said, but then I frowned slightly. "But it's a bit obvious to wear if we go out together."

She laughed. "Silly kitty," she said after kissing me on the cheek. "Seriously, you are cute when you are clueless."

I blinked.

"Keep digging."

I turned back to the box and found another item wrapped in paper; I shredded that, too, and found a felt mask shaped very close to my Chat version, though the eye slots were slightly different. I turned back to her. "Oh!" I said. "I guess I _was_ a bit dense. This is for here?"

She nodded. "You can wear that around the apartment instead of staying transformed." She paused. "Try it on first, of course, and make sure it doesn't give anything away."

I held out the fleece and admired it again, knowing Marinette had done it by hand. "I will, but I'm sure it will be purrfect." I leaned over and kissed her, deeply. "Thank you, Princess."

"Merry Christmas, Chat," she said as she wrapped her arms around me.

I hugged her, thankful all over again that the kwami gods had brought her into my life. It was an extraordinary gift and I was well aware how very lucky I was.

"Merry Christmas, mon cherie," I replied, letting the world settle back into perfection.

**Marinette**

Chat tried on the sweatshirt, and it fit well, a little loose, as was its intention. He added the mask, and that, too, fit well. He was about to transform to his civilian self, promising that he was wearing unrecognizable clothing (green sweat pants and a cat pun t-shirt), when I told him to check the tree one more time. Hiding in the corner was a small parcel, wrapped similarly in red foil wrapping, but with even more curling ribbon adorning it. I refuse to admit to seeing whether I could get Chat to play with it.

Alright. I admit it… and he did.

My giggling seemed to bring him back to the present (Ugh. That cat's influence is terrible), and he used his claws to slit open the package. Seeing his smile at the pair of black gloves that he pulled out, I knew he'd realized my aim. I'd knitted the gloves out of the finest cashmere yarn I could find, and only extended the fingers to the first joint. This meant, for the first time ever, he could touch me, hand in hand, skin to skin.

His eyes filled as he slid them on, carefully avoiding his claws, so that his ring was completely covered, but his fingers were uncovered. He went to the bathroom to detransform the first time, just to make sure that he was appropriately disguised. When he emerged, the first thing I noticed was his eyes. The same shade of green, but surrounded by a much more human white sclera. He walked over to me, and ran his fingertips over my cheek, then through my hair, sighing a little with the happiness of actually getting to feel what he was touching.

In a voice cracking with emotion, he managed to rasp out "Thank you" before I pulled him down for a kiss, our fingers interlaced, my thumb stroking the back of his hand.


	4. Model

**June 4: Model**

_Author's Note: Icarus here y'all. Ep and CM were foolish enough to let me write one of these by myself, so this is your one and only warning to get off of this train wreck of a story. We'll have to see if I get invited back after they read this story. Fingers crossed. (Ok, but actually don't skip it, It's decent)._

_It is my solemn duty to inform you that we don't own Miraculous Ladybug… However I am working on copyrighting "Miriculus Laydiebugh: Tails of Laydiebugh and Katt Noewarr" . Be prepared for our soon to be released TV series, musical, and live action movie about a heroic duo using magical devices to protect the streets of Madrid, but must keep their identities a secret. One is a chef, the other a movie star…_

_Copyright Lawyer: Icarus, that is STILL copyright infringement._

_Ic: Darn, Thanks for letting us know. I guess we'll need to find a new way guys._

_Ep: (Looks up writing the three-hour screenplay) Wait, what?_

_CM: *shakes head* Someone please remind me why I agreed to this!_

* * *

A drop of sweat dribbled off the 26 year old ravenette's brow. She knew she had to be very careful, or he would find her, and the once he found her he would do whatever he could to get what he wanted, which the designer couldn't allow. Not again.

Marinette opened her cupboards and carefully retrieved the necessary objects. First the ceramic bowl, which quickly found its way to the counter (though she placed it on an oven mitt, which silenced the usual clatter), then came the bread which her parents had given her the day previous. Lastly, and most dangerously, a can of tuna, which she carefully set down.

Marinette walked to the refrigerator, her hands shaking.

"You can do this. This time there will be no sacrifices," she thought.

With her trembling beginning to calm, she opened the door and obtained a jar of mayonnaise from the top shelf. She placed a dollop of the condiment in the bowl.

Next was the risk part. The next step was what would almost certainly summon the beast. A ravenous monster really.

She stopped breathing as she slid the kitchen drawer open. She removed the can opener, and let out an intentional violent cough as she pressed the tool to the can. It punctured inaudibly amidst the fake hacking.

As she twisted it, she smiled. The can was open and the room was silent. She scooped it into the bowl and arduously mixed it in silence.

As she began to spread it on the slice of legendary Dupain-Cheng bread, she felt a shiver run up her spine.

A single scratch resounded through the door.

"Probably nothing," she lied to herself. But of course she knew the truth. He had found her. And he was here to take her hard earned sandwich.

A second scratch echoed the first.

"Princess, I know you're in there making a tuna sandwich. I want some!" The silky blond voice echoed. Marinette hated that his voice was somehow blond.

She closed the sandwich with a second slice of bread, ignoring the calls.

"Mari. Are you decent?" He asked through the door.

Marinette took her chance. This lie would be her last opportunity to save the sandwich from her greatest enemy.

"No! I'm making the sandwich while I'm completely naked!" She shouted back.

The door cracked open and Chat Noir entered the apartment, a hand over his eyes, with red cheeks.

"Dang!" she cried,"I thought you would leave me alone Kitty!"

Realisation dawned on the cat.

"So you've got clothes on?"

"Of course Chaton!"

He slowly removed his hand from his face.

"I need the sandwich," he cried with a simple look of joy and pounced on Marinette.

She turned and placed him into a headlock with one arm, using the other to hold the perfect lunch away from him.

"No way, Chaton. You aren't getting my sandwich this time."

"Pleeeeeease!" he begged.

"Kitty, you are a chef! You own your own restaurant! You could make something a thousand times better than this with a hand tied behind your back. Speaking of which, isn't right now the lunch rush?" She argued.

He shook his head, or rather tried to.

"No, I could make a tuna sandwich with fresh tuna and organic non gmo mayo. But it wouldn't be made with your parents special bread that they only make for you. And my sandwich wouldn't be made with love. So I need it. Even half of it. And I have a competent sous-chef to take care of Château Chaton while I'm gone."

Marinette continued to resist him, holding tighter. Of course she knew he could easily overpower her if he tried to, but she knew he wouldn't.

"Mari! Please. I'll do anything for half of it!" he begged.

She let go, a mischievous grin encompassing her entire face.

"Anything?" she asked.

"Well, ok. There are some things I can't do, but name your price princess."

"I want a ring."

"Done. What kind? Gold, platinum, white gold? Maybe a Chat Noir styled ring?"

"I was thinking a platinum engagement ring," she grinned.

"Oh... but Mari... I thought we agreed..." he trailed off.

"No, Kitty. You told me you couldn't reveal your secret, and that you wouldn't until you were sure Hawkmoth was out of the picture. And I can't marry you as Chat, so I'm stuck waiting for you to accept Hawkmoth is dead."

Chat sighed. "Well he could have survived. Just because his submarine sank, doesn't mean that he's gone."

"Chat. He hasn't been heard from in 5 years. And we've been dating for 6 years. I want to have you as mine forever. I want a litter of kittens. I want to make Dupain-Cheng Tuna sandwiches and croissants for you everyday for lunch. I love you Kitty."

She placed a chaste kiss on his lips. When she saw the resistance on his face, she added a second kiss, then a third, and so on. Soon they separated, gasping for air.

"I love you too Princess. And once we confirm Hawkmoth is... gone, I'll get on one knee, take off my ring and offer you yours... until then, is there something I can do to get a bit of that sandwich?"

Marinette knew he was doing it for the greater good. She had told him as Ladybug that he could reveal himself to an important girl, should the situation arise, but he had told her that he would refuse until he was certain it was safe.

"Well, no. Unless you secretly know any high profile models that would be willing to model my clothes for free. I'm looking for a way to get noticed for a promotion at the company, and the only way to get from the mid-level designers to the senior designers is by doing something unexpected and spectacular."

Of course she knew Chat didn't know any models. He hated fashion for some inexplicable reason, and besides Marinette, he distanced himself from all things fashion. So she prepared to take a giant bite from the sandwich, unaware of Chat's need to please her, and his desire for lunch.

"I'll get Adrien Agreste," he blurted.

Marinette coughed up the bite she had just taken.

"What?! No one has seen him in years. He barely sends me a couple texts a year. How do you know him?!"

Chat smiled. "I can and will do anything for you Princess. I am 100% sure I can get him for your modeling gig. Completely free."

Marinette placed the sandwich back on the place and extended her hand. "Deal," she announced.

He took it in his paw. "Deal," Chat agreed.

And just like that, the oath was made.

It was only 3 days later that Marinette saw him standing in her office, that same silly smile that melted her heart every time.

"Adrien!" she squealed,"I've missed you."

She had wrapped her arms around him, and he reciprocated the motion.

Adrien smiled. "Yeah, I know a lot of people have, but when my dad went missing after the whole submarine- Hawkmoth debacle, I had to make some changes in my life. It wasn't hard, but I'll be honest, I think about you everyday Mari."

Marinette cursed herself for blushing. She had a boyfriend. A very serious boyfriend, and here was Mr Model, appearing from out of nowhere and flirting with her as if no time had gone by and she was totally single.

"Yeah, luckily, I have MY BOYFRIEND, Chat Noir to keep me company," she said rather forcefully, which only made Adrien's grin widen.

"Of course," he said unphased,"and he totally treasures you. Heck, I don't think he's ever been that in love."

Marinette stopped. Was this Kitty's secret confidant?

"Oh, so I come up in your talks with Chat?" She asked innocently.

"Oh yeah. When Chat and I communicate, you are probably pretty high on the list."

"So do I take first place over Ladybug?" She wondered, again feigning that the question was harmless.

Marinette felt herself blush, which made Adrien's smile nearly burst. When he was Chat, he loved to tease his girl, but with a secret identity, he felt like it was 100 times as fun. He allowed himself one final taunt, the coup de grâs of fiendish statements, before moving on to Mari's projects.

"Well, let's just say Chat thinks that Ladybug and I would make a good couple. And he promised me he'll do whatever he can to make that happen."

Adrien waited just a moment before seeing the fiery red appear on Marinette's face.

"Just a second," she said, stepping out of her office workspace.

Adrien chuckled to himself. He couldn't believe that he could get away with saying all these things. The whole situation seemed oddly cathartic.

A moment later she returned, a measuring tape in one hand and a stack of clothing in the other.

"Ok, Adrien. I've got some clothes for you to try on. We'll start with some of my favorite designs, and see how much we need to alter it to fit your frame."

Adrien nodded. He hadn't done this in a while, but he remembered the years of torture he had gone through as a child. Marinette is the only person in the universe he would relive this nightmarish moment for.

"Bring it on, Mari," he said confidently, his face adorned with a mischievous grin. He removed his shirt and carefully placed one from the top of the pile.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"You're hot… I mean you're going to be selling those like hotcakes!" She corrected.

Marinette painfully reminded himself that she was utterly and totally in love with Chat Noir, which Adrien somehow seemed to sense.

"You know, there was a time that I had a huge crush on you," he blurted out of nowhere. If Marinette's cheeks weren't red before, they were crimson now.

"Re-really?!"

"Oh yeah, but you know how young love changes over time. I'm now convinced that Ladybug is going to be my future wife. I can see it. Me and the adorable superheroine. 3 or 4 kids. A hamster. I've always wondered about being a stay at home dad, and I bet Ladybug has a serious professional career that she has dedicated a part of her soul to," Adrien said, trying to be everything his princess could desire,"do you think I have a chance?"

Marinette stared into his warm green eyes, which seemed to beg her to love him.

"Erm… uhhh… well… she might already have someone?" she said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

She shook her head confidently. "Definitely," Marinette asserted.

"Hmmm…" Adrien wondered, "now where can I find a kind, warm, friendly, amazing bluenette with the cutest pigtails? Preferably with leadership skills and the ability to make others smile?"

Marinette gulped. "I guess you're out of luck," she said rather nervously.

Adrien gave her a Chat Noiresque smile. "Oh, but I think I've found one…"

She watched him, panic setting in.

"You see, Mari, I've been in denial about my father's death. But in my heart I've known he's gone. And now that I know that, I can propose to the girl of my dreams, the only girl who I have ever loved."

Marinette gasped as Adrien took a knee.

"Marinette, will you marry me?" he asked with the mischievous grin still glued to his face.

"Adrien, you know I'm dating Chat. He-"

"I have his blessing," Adrien said, imparting one last tease, and hoping she would get the clue.

Confusion grew across her face as she wondered why or how Kitty could try and give her someone else. She also considered perhaps Adrien could be lying.

He opened the small velvet box in his hands, and his smile melted into a sincere look of love.

"I even got you the platinum ring you asked for. Please say yes Purrincess."

"CHAT?!"

"In the flesh M'lady," he grinned.

"W-what. M-m'lady?"

"You heard me Ladynette. Maribug… Buginette. I've known for a few months now… but since we still had the official 'don't tell identities', I left it alone. And of course Chat wouldn't tell Mari his identity until Hawkmoth was gone. And like I said, I did a lot of thinking, and I decided that you've been patient enough. I just figured we've waited so long for a reveal Bugaboo, that It would be lame to do anything less than this," he gestured to the room.

"So, what do you say. Would you like to become Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Agreste-Noir?"

Marinette realized her Chaton was still kneeling.

"Yes. I want to keep this Kitty forever."


	5. Damsel

**June 5: Damsel**

_Author's note: ChubbyUnicornMama: The boys finally let me join the party. Naturally, I get to write about the beautiful damsel, and the stalwart knight. And YES, Ep, here there be dragons._

_We don't, yet, own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, although Ep and I did have this conversation last night…_

_Ep: What are we going to do tonight, CM?_

_CM: Same thing we do every night, Ep. Try to take over Miraculous!_

* * *

Chat Noir couldn't believe the predicament he'd gotten himself into. Ladybug hadn't arrived yet, and he was trapped. If that wasn't bad enough, he was dressed in layers and layers of fabric, much like a medieval princess, wimple and all. He hadn't been this confined by clothing as Chat Noir since he had to wear those horrible heels when Reflekta got him. In much the same way, he was powerless. He still had his baton, as it had been knocked out of his hand by the akuma before she touched him, but his clothing was binding to the extent that he couldn't pick it up. Not being a big fan of enclosed spaces, he had to admit that he was definitely feeling a bit antsy from the way the stays were binding him tightly.

The only thing that could be worse about the situation were if the tower he was stuck at the top of was enclosed. Alright, maybe tower was a slight exaggeration, but he was on a rooftop, and currently had no way of getting back down to the ground.

Getting as close to the edge as he dared, Chat watched the akuma victim, trying to determine where the akuma was hiding. She was dressed much as he was but had a freedom of movement that he envied. Her arms had a full range of motion whereas his only lifted 45 degrees, and she could float from place to place, eliminating the need to actually move her legs under the approximately 300 petticoats that medieval ladies of means wore.

He was so focused on the akuma, he almost missed the telltale zip of a yo-yo string being retracted, as Ladybug softly landed next to him. Crossing the rooftop, she managed to hold back her snicker at his attire. "I would ask what the akuma does, but apparently it makes you very pretty" she commented, managing to keep the smile from her voice.

The look Chat Noir gave her was not at all amused. "Do you think you could loosen this contraption that has a death grip on my ribs?" he asked, gesturing to the stays that were tight around his ribs, restricting his air supply.

Ladybug reached over and started to pick at the string knotted at his back. The gloves that covered her hands made her fingers less dexterous, and she was unable to loosen the knot. She looked up at him to apologize for her inability to help without cutting the strings, not that she had anything sharp to cut them with, but he could use his claws. A bright red blush covered the visible part of Chat Noir's face and neck. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

As Ladybug had been picking at the knot, Chat had felt the fabric moving against his skin, and realized that his suit had turned into the dress that he was now wearing. His tail had turned into the rope belt at his waist, and his ears had morphed into the wimple. He thanked whichever gods were listening that his mask had remained in place. He looked up at Ladybug, the panic showing in his eyes. "Uh, let's not touch that… this IS my costume!" He ran his hands down his dress.

"What?" Squeaked Ladybug, dropping the ties like they were burning hot. "Are you sure?"

Chat pulled off the glove on his right hand, that was now faun and not black. Beneath it was a lightly tanned arm, with fine blonde hairs, and long, bare fingers. Ladybug made to look away, when she realized that the fingers were bare. No ring. She looked up at Chat's face, and saw that he realized it, too, that there was no ring on his right hand, silver or black. "My ring!" he gasped.

Ladybug glanced around. "Stay here. Actually, don't. I'm going to set you down a street away. Go to Master Fu. Tell him we'll need Rena Rouge for this one. I'm not sure how he'll get her, but he'll know what to do." Picking Chat up, Ladybug swung him over to the next street, setting him down and leaving him with the words "Stay safe, Princess" before giggling and swinging back over to track the akuma.

Chat trotted down the street as fast as he could. At least there were no high heels this time! He opened the door to Master Fu's shop, grateful that there were no customers there at that moment. He quickly explained the problem to the guardian, taking off his gloves and showing him the lack of ring. He also tried detransforming, but without the ring, nothing happened.

Chat told Master Fu what Ladybug had asked him about Rena Rouge, and the older man nodded, retrieving the fox miraculous from the miracle box, and handing it to Chat Noir. "I know the fox and the turtle wielders know each other's identities and can often be found together. Ladybug has often told me that you should know the same things that she does, that you are truly equal partners. At this time, I find myself in agreement with her. Therefore, go and give the fox miraculous to Alya Cesare. Rena Rouge will know how to help Ladybug. Send Carapace to me. Wayzz and I have some things to discuss with young Nino."

Chat was staring in shock at the revelations that Master Fu had just casually handed to him. It wasn't until Master Fu added, "You can find them following the akuma. Alya does like to take pictures of everything that is happening" that Chat shook himself, and, tucking the box with the fox miraculous into the reticule that hung from what used to be his tail, shuffled back into the street as fast as he could, trying to get back to the scene, to get Alya her miraculous.

When he spotted them, hunkered down behind a half wall, he beckoned them over, not wanting to have to step over the bolts of fabric that were strewn across the street. They darted over towards him, eyes dancing with amusement, but at a look from Chat, Alya turned the camera off, not before snapping a few pictures of his new sage green getup.

Lightly grabbing her wrist, Chat tugged Alya into the alley just behind where she had been positioned, pulling her to a darker corner. He shuffled nervously from foot to foot, realizing that he'd only ever given Chloe her Miraculous before, and there was no need to explain how exactly he came to know her true identity, since she'd announced it herself to all of Paris.

Stilling his feet and grinning at Alya, he held out the box to her. She looked at it, eyebrows raised and took the box from his outstretched hand. She opened it and Trixx appeared. After greeting her kwami, she turned to Chat Noir, one eyebrow cocked. "You knew?"

"It's a new development." Chat said to her. "Ladybug needs your help, and I'm a little indisposed right now. At her questioning look he added, "Bad outfit, no powers."

She nodded, then turned back to her kwami. "Trixx, Let's pounce." Transformation complete, Rena Rouge bounded out of the Alley to go and help Ladybug.

After passing along Master Fu's message to Nino, he, too, departed the alley, leaving Chat Noir to watch, alone, from the sidelines.

The appearance of the red petals from behind a parked car, indicated to Rena where Ladybug was, and that she had just used her lucky charm.

Looking up as she saw Rena kneeling down beside her, Ladybug grinned. Indicating the suit of armour that her lucky charm had given her, she said, "I have a plan. I think the damsel needs a knight to come rescue her. But first, I could use a little help getting into this."

Once Ladybug was wearing the armour, she dropped the visor on the helmet, and indicated to Rena that she was ready. Dropping her voice as deep as she could, Ladybug called out, "My fair maiden. Doth thou require my assistance?"

The akuma turned to face the knight, as it approached, a smile lighting up her face. "My good sir, are you here to…" Her sentence was cut off by a scream, as a large green dragon approached from behind Ladybug.

Ladybug whirled to face the dragon that was approaching on surprisingly silent feet. She unsheathed her sword, thankful for the fencing lessons that Marinette had been taking with Chat Noir, and the ones he didn't know about that Ladybug had been taking with Kagami. Ladybug had approached the girl one day, requesting her help, and Kagami hadn't wanted to turn down one of Paris' heroes, so she promised to keep the lessons secret. She'd been heartbroken when she had to fight her, much as she'd been with all of her friends, but at the same time, grateful for the lessons.

All of this ran through her head as she turned to face the dragon that was approaching her now. She stepped back, right next to the akuma, who was now seeing her as an ally rather than an enemy. The medieval princess placed her hand on Ladybug's shoulder, still clutching tight to her handkerchief. Ladybug reached up with one gauntlet covered hand, patted the akuma victim's hand reassuringly, and then snatched the handkerchief from her grasp.

Hearing the gasp of shock near her ear, Ladybug ripped the thin white fabric, releasing the akuma. Raising her visor, she captured the butterfly and purified it, then stepped forward to pet the dragon's snout. At her touch, the dragon dissolved into mist. Sending a thumbs up to Rena Rouge for the beautiful dragon illusion, Ladybug tossed her helmet into the air, with a cry of "Miraculous Ladybug", sending the magical red beetles out throughout the city.

A few moments later, a fully restored Chat Noir came trotting out from the alleyway, flexing and stretching to the extent of his enhanced, catlike agility. "I have no idea how people could move in those things! I've worn some pretty crazy things in the name of fashion." This statement garnered him raised eyebrows from the girls, "But nothing as bad as that. There were so many layers!"

Ladybug smiled at him. "I can sympathize, Chaton. Fifty pounds of plate armor is not conducive to feats of agility." Sighing she added, "but we both survived, and now, I must leave. I trust you can take care of Rena Rouge for me?"

Rena waved. "Bye Ladybug!" Then headed back into the alley with Chat. She handed him the necklace, after saying farewell to Trixx, and headed off, looking at the footage that she was able to get of the fight. Alya knew she'd be alright with the partial footage, as her phone often stopped recording once she'd been hit by an akuma's power, but she really wanted to send the pictures of Chat Noir in a dress to Marinette. Alya thought she might have a soft spot for the kitty the way she always defended him, and the way that some of his pictures had taken the place of some of those of Adrien on the walls of her room.

Later that night, Chat Noir landed on the balcony of one of Paris' best bakeries, but it wasn't only for their macarons, although those were delicious. He went to share a tale of knights and dragons with the only daughter of the bakers, his good friend Marinette. He had just got to the part where the knight was squaring off against the fierce, fire-breathing behemoth of a dragon, protecting the fair maiden, bodily shielding her from harm, when Marinette interrupted for the first time. Gripping his arm tightly, looking up at him with huge, round eyes, she asked, "Were you the brave knight?"

Blushing, he shook his head. "No, unfortunately, that honour went to Ladybug this time."

Marinette grinned at him. She had that glint in her eye that let him know that trouble was coming his way. "Were you the damsel in distress?"

His blush deepened. "I'll have you know, that I make a very pretty princess, thank you. But, no, I was not the one that Ladybug was protecting."

Leaning up to kiss his cheek, Marinette said, "You certainly do." She picked up her phone, showing him the picture that Alya had sent to her. "A very pretty damsel, indeed."


	6. Working Together

**June 6: Working Together**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here and I'm happy to report that we were able to post bond for DearestMrIcarus. I'm not up to speed on contract fraud, but it appears he was using disappearing ink, so there's some question as to the validity of the the signature he faked._

_Sadly, we had to use the cash we'd put aside for the billboard announcing our purchase of _Miraculous_. So, therefore, we're still nowhere close to being part of the organization. ChubbyUnicornMama thinks this is just a minor setback, though._

_To try and take his mind off of his upcoming legal woes, I dragged DearestMrIcarus back to the office to co-write this next installment of our series. This chapter continues the arc we established back on June 1 in _Kiss_; now that Chat and Marinette are a couple, can they make it work without revealing their mutual alter-egos to each other? Or should they even try?_

_CM: Unfortunately I snuck in and crashed the party, and, naturally, everything went to… well, let's just say there was a handbasket involved. _

* * *

**_Chat Noir_**

It had been about a month since the kiss that had changed everything between Marinette and I.

I was on my way to meet Ladybug for our nightly rounds, and it was the first time I found myself shifting into a new place, mentally, with respect to my partner. It was true what I'd said to Marinette: Ladybug would continue to be a huge part of my life, but the affection I felt for her was now more that of a friend I cared deeply about. This particular evening, I realized the usual overwhelming joyous expectation of meeting up with her had receded into that vaguely pleasant feeling you had when you knew you were going to be spending time with someone special.

Landing on our rendezvous rooftop, early as always, I popped up to the half-wall and watched the stars as they twinkled over Paris. A moment or two later, my feline ears picked up the telltale _ziiing! _of Ladybug's yo-yo, and she quietly dropped in just below me. "Hey, kitty," she said warmly.

I smiled; while she hadn't been acting nearly as strangely as the night I'd kissed Marinette, she _had_dropped most of the professional pretense we'd been operating under since becoming a team. It was a side of Ladybug that I enjoyed seeing, and I felt like she had finally become comfortable around me. For my part, I'd dialed back some of the Chat flirting - but only a little.

"You look pawsitively ravishing this evening, Milady," I said as I dropped from the wall in a smooth motion and quickly kissed her hand. I waggled my masked eyebrows. "Lucky for you, I'm here to fend off any and all suitors."

She groaned. "If you do that, how will I _ever _find my true love?" she said, placing a hand on her chest and fluttering her eyelashes..

"I'm hurt, Milady," I replied. "I thought I was the answer to all your dreams."

"Only the ones where I have a partner who takes the southern side of the city for me without complaint," she laughed.

"Ouch." But I smiled and leapt off into the night for my part of the patrol.

A few hours later, I helicoptered to a roof overlooking the Bakery. I didn't have an explicit schedule with Marinette, but she generally knew I'd be by after my nightly patrols with Ladybug. Our informal arrangement was such that if the lights overstrung on the space were off, she was unavailable for some reason. I frowned, as they were actually off this evening; I'd been looking forward to seeing her, so I dejectedly started to vault into the night.

Movement on the patio, though, had me hooking a claw on the wrought iron rimming the roof I was on, allowing me to flip around and back onto the tile. I squinted a bit, but my superior feline eyesight wasn't having any trouble seeing the tableau I'd nearly missed.

Marinette was indeed in. But so was a blue-haired boy, sitting cross-legged atop _my _planter with a guitar, clearly serenading her. Under the stars.

I started to think it wasn't an accident that green was a prominent color for my persona. I was feeling it now, for sure, as the jealousy bubbled into a rather rash plan. Leaping into the night, I helicoptered over to the patio.

**_Marinette_**

Afterpatrol, I found my way back home, just in time for Luka to get there. We'd scheduled a couple times to meet in the week so we could go over Kitty Section's material. Today he wanted to play a few songs he was working on and get some input on quality of lyrics and chords. Later in the week he was going to stop by to check out the latest costumes I was working on.

Since Chat and I were together, I had finally given Adrien up. I still loved him, but I knew Chat was who I wanted to be with. Unfortunately, Luka took that to mean that I was free, and cranked up his flirt-o-meter to 11.

"Marinette, I wanted to play one more song for you. This one isn't for Kitty Section, but for this girl I really have feelings for. I just don't know how to tell her in person. Would you mind listening to it for me?" he said, sitting on a large pot that Chat had claimed.

_Shoot. I'm going to have to clean that with bleach so that Chat doesn't think I let any guy just sit on his planter._

However I felt a bit better that Luka had come to me as a confidant to this new girl who had his heart rather than to confess his feelings, so I welcomed the performance.

He began a gentle strum of his guitar and turned to look at me with his cool blue eyes.

When life's getting hard,

And everything's a threat.

Where can I turn?

I'll turn to Marinette.

_Ok, so the first verse is about his friend he confides in..._

When my troubles intertwine,

And I begin to fret.

Where will I run?

I'll run to Marinette

_Wait, why isn't he singing about this girl of his?_

When hard work gets tough,

And I toil in my own sweat.

Who can I ask for help?

I'll ask my Marinette.

_Ok, Luka, any moment now. Bring up the girl, not me._

When I know that I'm in love,

And it's not a guess or bet.

Who do I dare to love?

I'm in love with Marinette.

_Shoot. Dang it! What the heck?! _

I'm in love with Marinette,

I will turn to Marinette,

I will run to Marinette,

I will ask my Marinette:

Do you love me Marinette?

"What do you think Mari? Was it any good?" he asked hopefully.

"Y-yeah, you had a... An awesome rhyme scheme… and-"

My words were cut off by a moving black shadow on a nearby rooftop.

_Great. This is just great. Chat probably thinks I'm cheating on him. With Luka._

Apparently Luka took my silence and distant look to mean something else and planted a romantic kiss on my lips. I tried to pull away, but he held me close, and I knew pushing him away would likely result in him falling off the balcony.

Carefully I turned him away from the railing, and shoved him off of me. The whole ordeal took about 15 seconds. That was 15 seconds longer than I wanted it to last.

"Luka, what were you doing?!"

He looked at me, embarrassment completely apparent. "Sorry. I misread the situation… I thought since you had stopped pining for… well I thought that you were maybe a little interested."

I looked at him with frustration. "I have a boyfriend."

_Had a boyfriend._

"WHAT?!" Luka shouted,"Who?"

"Um... we're trying to keep on the down low, he's kinda famous," I told him, unaware that he misunderstood what I meant.

"Ah, I get it," he said, "well, I better leave then. Sorry, I guess we'll just have to stick to working together."

As he left the balcony, I was left alone with my thoughts.

_Great. Now I'll just have to keep this to myself. Chat's the jealous type, so if he knew that Luka kissed me, we are gonna have a big problem._

And then a sobering thought entered my mind.

_I hope he didn't turn around when he was leaving. I hope he didn't see the kiss._

**_Chat Noir_**

My vision narrowed to the Balcony and the small theater that played out as I crossed the distance. I could clearly see it was Luka who had usurped my spot, and halfway over, I watched in fascinated horror as he drew Marinette into a kiss. A kiss that she didn't exactly fight off. Something was wrong with my heart, for it stopped beating for what felt like an hour.

_Whoa_, was all I could think.

I decided helicopter mode wasn't fast enough and twisted around into a dive; I'd been high enough above the Balcony that my streamlined form picked up some speed. Tail flapping, not just from the wind, I narrowed my eyes and stretched out, increasing my velocity. As I approached, I saw Marinette finally push Luka back; he looked agitated, but whatever he said prior to abruptly turning and disappearing through the skylight was lost in the rush of air past my feline ears. Now I was faced with a choice in those final few seconds: continue on toward Marinette, or drop to street level and take out the competition.

It was an easy choice.

Twisting again, I dove for the street, aiming for a lamppost just to the side of the residential entrance. I reached out and nabbed the neck below the actual light and spun around in a giant loop, landing atop the illuminated globe in a smooth motion. I was perched there, feigning nonchalance, when the door burst open and Luka started for the Metro.

He'd not seen me, so I stealthy leapt to another lamppost just ahead of him and perched, waiting. To my surprise, he was still running, holding his guitar case against his chest. I watched and realized he wasn't heading for the Metro; in fact, he was about to step into the thoroughfare, which was still quite busy despite the late hour.

Shifting to full Chat mode, I vaulted from the lamppost and caught him in his midsection just before he stepped in front of a delivery truck, which swerved and honked in the process. I tumbled with him, coiled around his form to protect him and the instrument, and we wound up against a park bench. "Dude," I said as I unfolded myself and quickly scanned him for injuries. "Only cats have nine lives."

He looked up at me, and I could see the pain in his eyes. Whatever had happened up on the balcony with Marinette had hurt him, deeply, and gave me pause. The green monster went back into the box I reserved for it as I put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?" I asked. "You look like someone ran over your pet."

"Might as well have," he said softly. "I thought Marinette had moved on, but I found out tonight she hadn't."

_Moved on? From what? _I thought. I nodded sagely: "Oh… well, love is funny that way. Sometimes when you think you've lost out, it reaches back up and nabs you."

_Was he… crying?_

"Yeah," he said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "Well, now I know. It was a mistake to share the song with her. I hope she'll keep working with me, though." I helped him stand, and he looked me in the eye. "I had no idea she was dating Adrien," he said unexpectedly.

I felt my masked eyes widen, and he caught the expression in them. "Chat - oh crud! She said it was on the down low and I've just gone and blabbed it."

_She's not wrong_, I thought, but chose to leave the smile off my face. "I'm a cat of discretion, monsieur."

That seemed to placate him, and I walked him to the Metro. Once I saw his head disappear into the depths, I turned to stare at the Bakery. The lights were now on over the rooftop patio, and I could see a familiar figure leaning over the railing and looking down at me.

A few minutes ago, what I'd intended to say to Marinette had been fueled by petty jealousy; now we had a different situation entirely. She'd inadvertently led Luka to believe Adrien had finally come around (which, in a way, he had) and I was nearly certain he'd have trouble keeping that to himself.

"Time for a Chat chat," I muttered as I leapt across the street to the side of the Bakery, and the clawed my way up to my Princess.

**_Marinette_**

I stared at the evening sky hoping that things would turn out for the best. Luka had looked really shaken as he had left. And now I was left alone, the taste of betrayal still clinging to my lips. Of course I knew I hadn't actually done anything wrong, but I still felt bad. I wished there was some way I could talk to my kitty.

_Ugh. This is some mess, Marinette._

I continued to gaze at the starless horizon, biding the lone moon to comfort my weary soul. As it stared at me, I began to see the face of the man on the moon. Suddenly my only solace turned into a mocking face; I was almost certain that he was laughing at me. I turned down to look at the Parisian evening traffic, preferring it to the cruel moon. But soon it seemed that I felt even more alone, as I watched friends and lovers walk across the narrow sidewalks.

As my frustrations came to a boil I shouted a word I would rather not repeat at the top of my lungs. Embarrassment immediately filled my mind, though I noted that my height seemed to produce a distorting and echoing effect, masking who said what to the people below.

_I'm glad no one heard that._

I was startled as a voice sprang up from behind me.

"Wow, Purrincess. I didn't know you had a mouth on you. You're the last person I would have expected to say that word."

I felt crimson mantle my face, and I was sure Chat could see the depth of my humiliation. I doubted that my silence deflected that impression. In fact, it probably reinforced it.

"So, kiss any cute boys lately?" he said with a knowing smirk.

"It's… I didn… I… He… " panic gripped my heart as I looked into Chat's warm green eyes. I was surprised to see there was neither anger nor jealousy, both of which I would have expected. Instead I saw something much worse. Hurt.

_My poor Kitty is suffering, hoping I have a good excuse._

His eyes continued boring a hole into my soul. They were pleading, beseeching, groveling for an excuse, anything.

"Kitty, I didn't do it. He did! … Luka…. He kissed me… but My heart b-belongs to y-y-you," I managed, though by that point tears were streaming down my face.

My dear Kitty grabbed me close, sensing that I was utterly distraught.

"Hey, Princess, it's ok. You were alone with a boy and you made a mistake. We can get past this."

I shook my head violently. "No, I didn't kiss him back. In fact I was half tempt to push him off of me the second he started, even knowing it would have meant a 20 meter drop for him."

Realization seemed to dawn on Chat.

"So… you weren't kissing him… he kissed you… and the only way you could make it stop right away was a short push down a tall balcony?" he asked, then almost silently added, "though I think he would have prefered it that way."

"What was that?"

Chat looked at me awkwardly. "Well… See… I sorta followed him to um… educate him on… well… Let's just say I was going to have a talk with him, and he nearly ended the conversation before it began. But I helped him avoid getting into a horrible accident… at least I hope it was an accident… anyways… he told me some things… and well-"

"Ok, Chat, maybe I could get the Sparknotes version please?"

"He thinks you're dating Adrien Agreste."

"Oh," I said.

"Oh," Chat echoed.

"Too, bad you're not secretly him. That would've been convenient," I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Chat laughed like I had told the funniest joke in the world.

"Too bad. Yeah. I think it's just as likely that you'd secretly be Ladybug," he teased.

I copied Chat's jovial guffaw, trying to divert attention to the nervous blush forming on my cheeks.

"So… what do we do about this situation?" I asked.

**_Chat Noir_**

We stood facing each other for a few moments, letting an uncomfortable silence stretch out between us. The flame of anger I'd snuffed out earlier had lit again once I'd heard Luka had made the most of his opportunity. I might yet need to have that little talk with him regarding boundaries; perhaps he was unaware how territorial cats could be.

Marinette's response to Luka assuming she was dating Adrien had perplexed me. I _was_secretly Adrien - and she'd made it sound like it would be the most improbable of reveals. My ego felt a bit bruised, though I had laughed along with her as if it had been the best joke she'd ever told and had immediately responded with a Ladybug joke of my own.

But she'd blushed when I'd compared her to Ladybug. That was strange.

"Well," I started slowly, "I'm not sure we have too many options. We could start being a bit more public about our relationship-"

"Not the best idea," Marinette hastily interrupted.

"Okay," I said, masked eyes frowning at her rather forceful response. "Why?"

"You're a superhero with a secret identity. If Hawkmoth discovers our relationship-"

I waved a paw at her. "Yadda yadda yadda. I've heard this from Ladybug before, Princess. I know the drill." My green eyes glared at her. "Then you might as well date Adrien. He'd be the safer choice for sure," I added, hoping the irony was lost on her.

Her face reddened a bit. "Chat, that's not what I meant-"

Knowing I was getting a little hot under the bell, I leapt to the railing and perched, ready to leap into the evening. My emotions were actually in turmoil - if it was possible to be both angry and heartbroken, I was feeling it. "Good luck with blondie, Princess," I said, harsher than I'd intended. "See ya around."

"Chat! Wait-" she ran toward me, but I tumbled off and into the night.

Sleep did not come at all; I tossed and turned after returning to the mansion. Dawn saw a bleary-eyed Adrien staring back at me from the bathroom mirror, turbulent emotions tamped slightly by the gnawing realization I may have (perhaps) slightly overreacted to the situation the prior evening. While it stung still that Marinette wasn't ready for us to take our relationship public, I knew she was my entire world - even if I could only see her on that patio. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized she'd been worried about _my_safety - not hers.

I'd cut her off before she'd been able to finish her thought. It was typical Marinette, and I'd botched the moment. Again.

I looked at my ring. If I hurried, I could get to the Bakery before school started and try to correct my mistake. Assuming she'd even talk to me. I dragged Plagg out of the dirty clothes hamper and transformed, vaulting out of the bathroom window and making a direct route toward my Princess.

To my surprise, she was at the railing to the Bakery rooftop patio; the early morning rays of sunshine were at a steep angle, illuminating her like a warm spotlight and highlighting her best features. I carefully landed next to her and perched, cat-style.

Her eyes went wide. "Chat! What are you doing here?"

"Princess," I said, then added quickly: "Look, I need to apologize-"

"Not a good time, Chat," she said quietly, eyes darting to the skylight.

I followed her gaze, ears suddenly perking up. Someone was down there, and it didn't sound like her parents. My eyes snapped back to hers, and narrowed.

Marinette sighed. "He was just as messed up as you said he was," she started to explain. "He apparently wandered all night and wound up outside our Bakery this morning."

My masked green eyes narrowed further. "Seriously? He's here? _In your room?!_"

"Sleeping, finally," she nodded. "Look, it's not whatever you're thinking, Chat."

_Dear kwami. What do I do now?_I thought.

"Of course, Princess," I said, taking what I hoped was the high road and trying to keep my temper under control. "I'll stop back later."

She nodded. "That might be best."

I fell off the back of the railing and tumbled into the air, thoroughly depressed, and headed straight for school.

**_Marinette_**

I hadn't got a lot of sleep last night. What started with a miscommunication with my boyfriend and ensuing sleeplessness turned into a rescue operation for my old friend.

_And of course Kitty decided to stop by this morning._

As I snuck past Luka, sleeping peacefully on my chaise, he stirred.

"Time for school already?" He grumbled.

"Oh, no. You're gonna stay in bed and get some sleep," I told him sternly.

"Oh right. I forgot, the cure for loneliness and depression is spending all day in bed by yourself, shirking all responsibilities and avoiding any potential support system of friends and teachers."

I let out a groan. He had a good point.

"Fine," I grumbled, knowing full well that once Luka had his mind set it wouldn't change.

He looked down at his shirt.

"Ugh, it's all wrinkled," he said, gesturing to his clothes,"I can't go to school looking like this. People will think I live on the streets!" His voice wavered as he spoke.

_Is Luka about to cry?_

Snapping into action and being a "mama bear" as Alya called it, I quickly retrieved a hoodie I had just finished making. It was onyx black, with a neon green paw print covering the center of the chest.

I had just finished it that night before I had seen Luka (sometimes sewing relaxes me). Of course I'd have to wash it after Luka returned it. Chat was expecting me to give it to him; in fact I had promised him it was almost done.

I handed the hoodie to Luka.

"Try this on."

It was a perfect fit. Not that that was my primary focus. I was just hoping Chat wouldn't bump into him and recognize the sweater.

As I looked at the clock, it was apparent we may be late for school, so we ran down the stairs. As I got to the exit, I noticed Luka was starting to slow down.

_The last thing this boy needs is a tardy slip._

I grabbed his wrist, and pulled him behind me. As we made our way to the sidewalk, my blood chilled.

Kim, my loudmouthed "friend" was staring at us.

"Did Luka stay the night at your place?!" Kim asked incredulously.

"It's not like that!" Luka protested,"She's dating Adrie-"

He stopped. Throwing his hand over his face, as if to silence the words that had already escaped.

My mouth dropped open.

Kim's mouth dropped open.

"No way. Alix is never gonna believe it!" Kim said taking a photo with his phone,"You're cheating on Agreste with Couffaine!"

Before either one of us could correct the mistake, he darted off.

_Well, no use in my life falling apart and being late to school._

I let go of Luka's hand and ran.

"Hurry, we're almost late," I yelled to the stunned boy, hoping he made it to his school. His was a few blocks past mine, so I was worried he would make it.

As I sat down, I knew that I was in a big mess. Everyone was staring at me.

**_Adrien_**

I was early for class, much as I usually was when there was no early morning akuma attack, or photo shoot. Kim had arrived a minute or so before the bell, and pulled me aside telling me that he'd seen Marinette and Luka emerging from the bakery together this morning, and that Luka had let it slip that Marinette and I were dating, although the two of them had looked rather cozy.

The problem was, I had to look confused, because, technically, I WASN'T dating Marinette. Chat was. I couldn't really explain that to anyone, including Marinette, and I was just annoyed enough at her to let her get out of it on her own.

I'd responded rather non-comitally to Kim, and gone to sit in my classroom with the rest of the students. I know Kim hadn't wasted any time spreading the rumors, because when Marinette slid into class as the bell rang, all eyes were on her. She looked around a little wildly, noticed Miss Bustier hadn't arrived yet, and asked to speak to me after class. Privately.

Luckily for Marinette, Miss Bustier chose that moment to make her appearance, so she was saved from the students by actual class. As soon as it was over, she jumped up, and grabbed my wrist, practically towing me down the front steps and around the corner to a private spot.

"Alright. First I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. Luka got the wrong impression from something that I said, and assumed that I was dating you. I never said that I was, and he never gave me the chance to correct it, and then he started telling people, well, mostly just Kim, and, uh, well, my boyfriend, who now is mad at me, not because of what Luka said, well, kind of because of what Luka said, but not that, I don't think, and then Luka was really upset last night, so I gave him a place to sleep, because he was outside when my parents got up this morning, and I felt really bad, because he asked me out and I said no because, well, I really love this guy I've been seeing, and I know I'm rambling and I'm really sorry, but I think the class is mad at me because they think we're dating which we aren't, obviously you know that, but now they think I'm cheating on you with Luka, and I just wanted you to hear it from me, so I'm sorry."

I stood there looking at her a little dumbfounded while she rambled on, although it was nice to actually hear what happened from her, and that she really did love me. "Um, Okay?"

We walked to our next class, silently, but together when Alya approached us. She patted my shoulder sympathetically, gave Marinette a death glare, and silently, but relentlessly towed her away.

**_Marinette_**

Alya had me by the arm and was propelling me toward the furthest reaches of the courtyard. "I want to know what is going on," she whispered to me as we marched double time across the space. "Adrien? Really? When did it begin? How did you find the courage to ask him? Why was Luka at your place? And what's going on with Chat Noir?"

I stumbled a bit on that last one, but she didn't seem to notice. "What are you talking about?" I asked plaintively, stalling for time. I knew the class bell would - _might - _save me in a few minutes.

We hauled up in a corner behind the stairwell. Alya had no way to know it was also a spot I often used to transform in a pinch, so I was well aware how protected it was from any eyes from the courtyard. She whirled me around and found myself pierced by her eyes. "Spill."

I felt like a cornered bug, and tried hard to keep my eyes from darting toward the relative safety of the courtyard. _Come on, bell! Ring!_

"Adrien?" Alya prompted.

I sighed. "There's nothing there. Luka misunderstood something I said and drew some conclusions-"

"So he _was _at the Bakery," Alya pounced, inadvertently channeling her Miraculous identity.

I frowned. "It was nothing," I tried to explain. "He needed a friendly ear."

"So he stayed the night?"

"No!" I said hastily. "Well, I mean, he was there for some of the night-" I started, then realized I was making it worse. "I mean, we were working on a song together-"

Alya's jaw dropped. "He was _singing _to you? At the Bakery?"

I turned to the wall and slowly started to pound my head against it. "Yes."

"I'm confused," she said. "How does Adrien fit into this? When did you start seeing him, anyway? I can't believe you've been able to keep it on the down low."

"I'm seeing _Chat_, Alya," I said shortly. "_Not _Adrien," I continued, turning back to her. "I told Luka I was seeing someone famous, and he jumped to the wrong conclusion. I tried to explain it to Adrien just now, but I have no idea how Chat is going to take all of this."

I turned back to the wall, well aware of the very shocked expression on my friend's face. "Chat thinks I'm doing something with Luka. Luka thinks I'm dating Adrien. And Adrien is taking it all in stride."

"You're… dating… CHAT NOIR?!" Alya fairly yelled. "Holy holy-"

"_Alya!_" I hissed, turning back. "Do you _mind_? I could use the friend part right now, not the journalist."

She had the good sense to look a bit chagrined. "Sorry, girl. But I mean, really?! How did you score that kitty?"

I sighed. "I can explain that - later. I could actually use some help in getting myself out of this mess."

Alya hugged me. "I'm just so proud that you had the courage to get over Adrien! Whatever you need, I'm here." She paused for a beat. "As long as I get an exclusive-"

"Seriously?"

"Sorry,"' she laughed. "Occupational hazard. So you're definitely not seeing Adrien or Luka?"

"Correct."

"And Chat is, shall we say, upset?"

"You could say that," I nodded. "I knew he had a jealous streak, but this has brought out the worst in him."

The final bell rang for the next period, and we started back across the quad at a trot. "What do you want to do?" Alya asked.

"I want to fix everything," I said ruefully as we entered the classroom.

Alya rolled her eyes. "What else is new. Let me think about this a bit."

I thanked her and followed her up the steps to our desk; as I passed him, Adrien caught my eye and I paused. "Hey," he said quietly as our teacher cleared her throat. "Are you going home for lunch today?"

I nodded. "Why?"

"No reason," he said, smirking slightly and giving me a slightly sizzling look from those emerald eyes. "I figured if you were staying here at school, I'd make a point of hanging close to you…"

I was tempted to bop him on the head like I often did with Chat, but held off. "Thanks, but no."

**_Adrien_**

I turned back to my desk, having managed to determine where Marinette would be during the noon hour. I'd seen her with Alya out in the courtyard and decided it was probably time to try and patch everything up before it got too much further out of hand. Chat would have to make an unannounced visit over lunch today.

My classmates had continued to stare at both Marinette and I, so I knew the damage was substantial. Somehow I'd have to figure out how to help Marinette repair this mess. Idly, I considered excusing myself to the restroom and returning as Chat to present a rose to Marinette, but figured that would likely make everything more muddled - especially since Marinette had explicitly said she wasn't ready for a public outing of our status as a couple.

Hunkering down to get through chemistry class, lunch finally appeared and I managed to escape without drawing any notice. There was a convenient stairwell in a far corner of the courtyard that was shielded from the rest of the space, and I transformed once I was sure the coast was clear. Quickly I was up and through the courtyard roof, and I paused at the facade to ensure Marinette was indeed on her way home.

**_Chat Noir_**

Her pigtails appeared below me, but she wasn't alone - she'd invited Alya, apparently. That was an unexpected development. Thinking quickly, I stood, backed up, and then ran off the edge of the roof, diving toward Marinette. Alya happened to turn just as I grabbed Marinette and rose up into the sky again on the baton, her shocked expression nearly worth the effort alone.

"Chaaaaaaaat!" Marinette was screaming as we rose into the air.

"Hey, Princess," I said lightly as we sailed over the rooftops of Paris. "Wanna grab lunch?"

"Chat! Are you… catnapping me?"

"Nice pun. I suppose I am, but only if you want to be." I dropped from the sky and gently trotted to a stop on the next rooftop with my cargo, which I carefully released. "I thought this might be a good time to talk. But if not…"

"No," she said. "It's as good as any, I guess."

"Look, this is my fault entirely," I started. "I drew the wrong conclusion from a very noble action on your part." I paused for a beat. "What's worse, I was a bit insensitive to a friend of yours who's going through a rough patch. We really need to fix that, too."

"I didn't make it easy for you," Marinette admitted. "I should have been up front with Luka the moment I realized what was happening." She smiled slightly. "And I keep forgetting what you can see… and hear… that others can't." Marinette put a hand to my bicep. "We both have parts in this drama. I think, working together, we might be able to create a happy ending for everyone."

"I'm in," I said, pulling her into a hug and brief kiss. I thought it might be nice to remind her that I was, after all, her boyfriend. "Does that mean we're good?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "We are."

Then I raised a masked eyebrow. "So what, exactly, are we going to do…?"

"Alya had a thought about that," she smiled sweetly. "And you're not gonna like it."

**_Marinette_**

I took a deep breath. "Alya was thinking that maybe you could talk to Luka. You know be his friend, talk to him…"

Chat smiled at me. A mix of his cheshire grin and the genuine one he saved for me.

"Easy. I could totally do that."

_This is the awkward part._

"With Adrien Agreste."

I could see the cogs churning in his brain.

"No," he managed, without so much as an explanation.

"No? Why the change of heart?" I couldn't believe that he had gone from totally willing to an unwavering no at the mention of Adrien's name.

"Would you believe that I'm jealous of Adrien?" he asked worriedly.

"Haha, yes. You are a territorial little Chaton, I believe that."

He sighed. "But I bet Adrien and I could befriend him separately!"

Chat looked at me with a sick grin. "In fact, I have a few ideas of my own."

Something about the glint in his eye sent a shiver down my spine. Chat's ideas were… well, let's just say that there is a reason that Ladybug was usually in charge of strategy.

"Ok… Kitty, what are you thinking?" I gulped.

"Ok. So there are five of us. Luka, you, me, Ladybug, and Adrien. Right?"

"Um… sure?" I wasn't sure where this was going.

"Well, people have been suspecting LadyNoir for years. But um… I guess you could call us MariChat. Then there are the new theories. I think I've already heard Lukanette and Adrienette being whispered through the halls… it's gonna be no time before we get some sort of weird love polygon story going in the news. So…"

Chat looked nervous about whatever he was about to say, and I had to admit, I felt the same.

He continued. "So, how about we have Alya do an interview with Ladybug and me? I admit my feelings for you, and that we have been dating for a while. And I can convince Ladybug to say she has feelings for Adrien."

I felt heat rise in my face. "But she doesn't love him!" I pointed out, a little too enthusiastically.

"Well, duh. I don't think anyone has given Ladrien much of a thought after the paparazzi gave up on it."

I recalled what Chat was referring to. Some time ago, a cameraman for a local news station had seen me nearly give my miraculous to Volpina when she had dangled an illusionary Adrien from the Eiffel tower. Only weeks later had we been forced to fight Riposte, and in the process a few cell phone pictures of Adrien on top of me, and me pulling him away from the action had surfaced. As the Ladybug and Adrien meetings died down, the rumors of a secret Ladrien couple had died down as well. Now only the most fervent Ladrien believers still followed the rumors.

"And what makes you think you could convince Ladybug to lie?" I asked, wondering how he really planned to do so?

Chat put down his baton, which he had apparently picked up while I wasn't paying attention.

"I texted her. And she owes me one… or like 30 for saving her. She'll do it. And to be honest, I think she might secretly have a crush on Adrien."

_You figured out my secret crush a little too late Kitty._

His phone buzzed. "Looks like Alya's good for the interview," he said deviously.

_Great. I just know this is going to go wrong._

**_Chat Noir_**

I'd set the interview for later that evening, intending to spend the entire my entire patrol with Ladybug trying to convince her to sit down with Alya. I was acutely aware that she would resist lying in any way, too, so there were still a number of wrinkles needing to be ironed out in my grand scheme. But it was a start.

I found my partner at our usual rooftop facing the Eiffel Tower. As I suspected, she was not amused, and was holding her bug phone out to me like it was radioactive. "Would you mind explaining this, Chat?" she demanded, barely controlling her temper. "And we'll tally up who has saved whom a bit later."

My well developed sense of self-preservation had me perched on the wrought iron railing out of arm's reach, though the yo-yo could likely still nail me if I didn't move fast enough. "Hear me out, Milady," I said, swallowing slightly as the fire got really going behind those blue eyes.

Ladybug stepped toward me a bit, and I tried hard not to lean away from her. The anger was coming of off her in waves that were almost palpable. She glared at me but nodded.

"So," I started and then proceeded to explain _everything_, from Luka serenading my girlfriend to his near brush with shuffling off this mortal coil and was about to launch into my slightly jealous reaction to everything when she stopped me cold.

"You're _dating _someone," she said icily. "As _Chat?_"

In my defense, we'd only been a couple for a few weeks. But… I'd not gotten around to telling Ladybug about it. Probably because I suspected this very reaction. This time, I did lean away from her. "Yes, Milady," I said. "It's a recent development."

"You think this is wise?"

I looked her straight in the eye, and said something I never thought I would ever say to Ladybug. "I love her, Milady. For a long time, I thought I was in love with you." I caught her look and hurriedly added, "You're still special to me, Ladybug. More than I could ever explain; but Marinette has become something more to me. I feel... whole when I am around her." I glanced away, feeling the brush of emotion upon my cheeks. "I had no idea how to tell you, but I had intended to." I turned back toward her. "But you should also know I'm not asking for permission." I held her gaze firmly, resolute that this was the path forward for me.

The glare continued. "You really should have told me the moment it became serious," she said, but I could also see her mouth was quirking just a bit.

"You're right, LB." I looked away. "I think it has taken me about this long to realize what I was actually feeling for Marinette." I looked back. "I'm sorry."

Ladybug moved to my position, and put a hand to my arm. "Look," she said, smiling now. "I know you have - _had_\- feelings for me, Chat, and appreciate how you've respecting my wishes on this particular point." She ran her hand along my arm. "I'm happy that you're happy. Do I wish you'd started this relationship outside the mask? I wouldn't argue with that," she laughed. "You're a special, one-of-a-kind guy, Chat. Marinette is lucky… very lucky, to have you in her life."

I was sure my jaw had hit the railing. _She's __okay with me dating someone? _I thought. _I expected a lot of reactions, but that wasn't one of them._

Ladybug saw my expression and laughed harder. "I'm reasonable," she said. "And I'd hope you'd allow me the same freedom, if at some point, I find my own special someone."

My heart slightly broke. _She's just as lonely as I was, before Marinette. _"Of course, Milady."

"Now, tell me what you want me to do tonight."

Quickly, I sketched in how I needed her to declare her feelings for Adrien, holding up a paw to prevent her from objecting, followed by how I would tell the world I was dating Marinette. "I hate to be that public about it," I finished up, "but that would clear the air."

"But I don't love Adrien," Ladybug finally said. "It would be a lie."

I smirked at her. "How can you _not_," I poked at her. "Most women are throwing-"

Yeah, the yo-yo nailed me between my feline ears.

In the event, Ladybug grudgingly agreed to go along with my plan and together we headed over to the park that happened to be fairly close to Marinette's place. Alya had agreed to do the interview by the water fountain and as we dropped out of the sky together, we found two folding chairs already set up opposite where she was sitting. Nino was with her, and had used a few of the lights he normally had during his DJ gigs as spots, giving a warm circle of illumination around the three of us.

I rearranged my tail to sit, but not before letting Ladybug perch on the edge of her chair. I'd barely crossed my arms and settled in when Alya launched. But I found myself losing the thread of her question, for Ladybug's reaction had not been what I'd expected. The more I thought about it, she'd shifted from righteous anger to total acceptance in the space of a few heartbeats. I smiled at Alya, having no clue what she asked, and turned casually to look at Ladybug.

She was absorbed in the question coming from Alya, and as she answered, she reached out and took the paw closest to her. It was a casual thing, a very familiar act, but it shot through me like a bolt of electricity. In hazy slow motion, I watched her turn her masked eyes toward me as she finished her response, her smile beaming at me radiantly.

_What was that in her eyes?_ I found myself thinking.

I was used to seeing her thoughts through those deep blue windows, and yet tonight, I was seeing something unexpected. Something similar to what I'd seen with Marinette.

"...Chat?" I heard Alya ask.

Startled, I turned toward my friend. "I'm sorry, I was a bit clawst in those gorgeous eyes of my partner," I said, turning up the Chat charm to eleven. "What was the question?"

Alya frowned. "Ladybug says you have an announcement, Chat."

"Right!" I said, smiling. "I wanted to let Paris know that I'm officially off the market. Alya, I'm in love with -"

On the cusp of saying what was on my heart, I happened to glance down at my paw, still carefully enclosed by Ladybug's gloved hand. She'd never done that before. At least, not that affectionately.

_What was I saying?_

Faltering, I looked back up at Alya, lost. "I'm sorry…"

Ladybug squeezed my hand. "It's okay, Chat. Go ahead," she encouraged. "Tell her what you told me."

I took a deep breath.

"Alya," I said. "I'm in love with Ladybug."

**_Marinette_**

I looked at Chat, then at Alya, then back at Chat. I could feel the horror on my face.

Chat turned to Alya. "I meant-"

"You heard it folks! LadyNoir is official! Chat is 'officially off the market' because he is in love with Ladybug," Alya nearly screeched into the camera. Nino tried to calm her down, gesturing to do so behind the filming equipment, but she was too far gone. At this moment, she was neither Parisian, nor friend to me. Right now she was a bloodthirsty journalist, and she was ready for the kill.

I had seen the look on her face, and I knew that nothing I could say would remind her that her best friend was dating Chat Noir, and that she should lay off of whatever nonsense Chat was spouting.

"So, tell me Chat. Since when have you been in love with Ladybug?"

"Since the day I first met her, but-"

Alya was on a roll. "And could you ever see your relationship with Ladybug ending?"

"Not our current relationship, but there is no chance of-"

Nino turned to Alya. "The battery just died."

"And Chat, do you think that Ladybug is the one…Wait, Nino, did you just say the battery died?"

"Yep, sorry Babe."

I looked at Chat in horror. Did he really mean all those things? He was in love with Ladybug. He had been from the very beginning, and he thought somehow he could surprise me with a secret relationship, after having just confessed that he loved someone else?

I knew there must have been some sort of miscommunication, but I could feel my heart ready to explode.

_Does Chat love me or does he love ME?_

Alya had pulled out a pad of paper and had attempted to resume her questions.

"Excuse me," I forced myself to say with composure, letting of Chat's hand.

I walked out of sight, and then ran. I felt my flat soled shoes smack against the pavement, and the beating got faster and faster. I felt like my feet were on fire, and the only way to save myself was to run for my life.

By the time I was out of breath I was sure I had put a good couple of kilometers between myself and the park. I crawled into and alley and detransformed. In utter exhaustion I slid against the cool brick wall. I felt sick, and I felt like there was no way to relieve it.

_Well there is one way._

I turned my head to the side and spewed the contents of my stomach, next to me. I had no clue what to do. Chat wouldn't betray his Princess, would he?

"Marinette, Chat must've made a mistake right? He definitely loves YOU," my Kwami comforted.

"But that's just the thing. Even if it was just a faux pas…" I stopped, the pun on the tip of my tongue made me nauseous,"there has to be a reason his mind thought 'Ladybug' and not 'Marinette'."

At that moment my phone rang. I checked the caller ID to see it was "Kitty". I hit reject, and turned my head again to allow another wave of vomit to escape my dying stomach.

_Now if only there was a way for my heart to unburden itself._

* * *

_Special Author's Note: We're sorry, but this story is just going to keep going. We keep trying to end it, but it refuses to go quietly into the night. So we won't be upset if you pause here for a bathroom break and return. There are also concession stands out in the hallway. Go ahead. We'll wait. Ic says the popcorn is pretty good. For some reason it's all out of coffee though._

_*whistles while drinking coffee*_

_CM: If you whistle while drinking it's going to go down the wrong way. *sits back to watch*_

_Back? So while you were topping off the popcorn with that fake butter, we decided to continue this story in the June 21 Chapter. We're gonna need that much time to fix this mess. -ep_

_CM: See. I'm not looking like such a bad person anymore, am I?_


	7. Fencing

**June 7: Fencing**

_Author's Note: (Epcot97) I thought it would be neat to see if I could figure out a part two to the Fencing chapter I wrote for #MariChatMay2019. Now that Marinette has been taking lessons from Chat for a bit, he decides to test her skills out in the field. Literally._

_ChubbyUnicornMama and I told DearestMrIcarus that bringing coffee to the Zag studios might help in our efforts to become part of the _Miraculous _Writers Room. We haven't seen him in days, however, and assume this means he wrangled HIS way in and left us out in the cold. Good thing I still have these mittens from that chapter CM wrote last month._

* * *

It was very, very early in the morning. The sun had barely risen over the horizon and cast long shadows over the Trocadero. I was standing at the top of the steps with Marinette, baton in fencing mode. "Ready?"

"Yes," she said. Unlike our previous impromptu fencing match, this time Marinette was fully outfitted in appropriate garb and had an actual epee in her hand - all gifts from yours truly. She was holding it by her side, mirroring my baton.

"Same as before," I said. "First to three wins."

"En garde!" she cried, whipping her epee up and making a thrusting motion toward me.

I vaulted up and over her, twisting in mid-air to land behind her with my baton out. She'd expected that move, though, and had similarly turned; I barely caught her swipe at me and fended it off, dancing backwards across the marble of the steps. The clanging of her sword against my baton rang out across the empty space, echoing against the far walls.

Marinette made another move and I countered, but could feel she'd again pushed me back toward a wall. It was one of her favorite strategies and I let it play out a bit longer, hoping she didn't notice the gleam in my masked green eyes.

Sensing she might have me at a disadvantage, she parried a bit more and then tried for a tap on my shoulder. It was the move I'd hoped she'd do, and I simply walked backwards up the wall and out of her reach.

"Not fair," she said as she made a last swipe at my tail which was just out of reach. "New rule: no wall walking when fighting a non-Miraculous holder!"

"I don't think that is in the official rule book," I laughed as I lay on my side atop the wall, my tail twisting in a mocking manner just out of her reach.

"All right," she said, and then she _did_surprise me by jumping up a good two meters; she grabbed my tail and yanked me off the top of the wall. It was so unexpected, my baton flew out of my hand as I tumbled to the steps, clattering away from me. I landed in a tumble of limbs but quickly flipped over and rolled away from her, narrowly avoiding a love tap to my back from her epee.

Crouched in my pounce-stance, I saw Marinette was between me and my baton. With an evil gleam to her eye, she stepped back and picked it up, and started to wield it in her other arm. My eyes widened: we'd never practiced two-handed attacks together, but clearly she had done some sort of prep work. "You are full of surprises this morning, Purrincess," I said, carefully skulking around her and trying to stay just outside of her attack radius.

"I've had a good teacher," she said.

"Just _good_?" I harrumphed.

"Well-" she started to reply.

I took that moment to vault directly at her, and caught her in the midsection. As we tumbled together down the steps, I heard both the baton and the epee clang to the stone and away from Marinette. I twisted as we rolled and managed to remain under her to absorb most of the landing when we hit the wider area of the main plaza.

Marinette pushed off of me and rolled sideways, and started to scamper back up the steps toward her epee. I flipped around and vaulted beyond her, landing on a step above her. She came to a dead halt, eyeing me and the weapons just beyond my feline form. "Furget something?" I asked.

Cooly, she tried to make a move to get around me and I countered it; she tried a feint from a different direction and I skidded in front of that as well. The she surprised me again, and started to vault up and over me; had she been someone like Ladybug, she might have pulled it off, but she was short by a good meter and crashed into me, knocking both of us backwards.

Protectively, I wrapped myself around her and again absorbed the impact, landing on my back. My masked eyes widened in surprise, though, as she scrambled off of me and launched herself at the epee. Only then did I realize it had been a planned move. "Nice," I said, as I rolled forward and regained my baton.

Once more, we were at the top of the steps, facing each other. Marinette was breathing a bit hard, but unlike our first encounter, it was more akin to a marathon runner barely breaking a sweat on a five kilometer run. I decided to up the ante and made a strong move toward her, and she easily batted me away and flipped the movement back at me, throwing me to my weak foot. I smiled again: she had been a quick study indeed. Parrying back, I pushed her down the steps, giving me the higher ground for a moment.

Seeing her disadvantage, Marinette quickly backed away from me and down to the main plaza level, evening the playing field again. I tossed my baton from hand to hand for a moment, trying to decide my next move, partially tensed, eyes carefully tracking her movements. I'll admit that I'd been holding back just a bit, since my enhanced feline reflexes would typically overpower her. But I was starting to think we were better matched that I thought.

Testing my theory, I sprung in with my baton, a blur of movement for most humans. Marinette easily sidestepped me, and I missed her shoulder by centimeters. I rolled sideways, barely missing her return move that was equally as fast, and landed in a pounce-crouch, baton out. "Very good, Princess," I said, finding that I was actually breathing a bit hard myself.

I didn't have much time to add to my compliment: before I could counter, she leapt over me, tapping me on the shoulder as she sailed above me. "One!" she cried, ecstatic for a moment.

It didn't last, for I swiveled around myself and caught the rear of her shoulder as she landed. "And one!"

I heard her groan as we rolled away from each other, then stood apart, warily eyeing each other as we began to slowly circle. "You've learned well, young padawan," I quipped.

"I thought you were more of a _Star Trek_fan," she said as she quickly moved in.

I danced away from her and watched as she gracefully shrugged out from beneath my baton. "I am, I was trying-" I leapt over her, barely missing her shoulder again as she ducked. "-to distract you."

"Not…" she moved quickly to the side, again barely avoiding my baton, "...working!"

We went at it for another forty minutes, neither of us giving any quarter but stymied at a point apiece. At length, I called for a break, and we both leaned against the stone wall ringing the space. I could see sweat had matted her raven hair, and her chest was heaving; but being Marinette, she was stubbornly refusing to stop. For my part, I could feel I'd been getting a workout and a half. If it was even possible, I thought I'd been blinking sweat out of my masked eyes for the last few minutes.

"What… what time is it?" Marinette suddenly asked.

I popped open my baton and checked the phone function, and felt my eyes bug out. "It's 0745," I said casually. Internally I was screaming, for school started in less than fifteen minutes. We'd been so wrapped up I'd lost track of time - not to mention that it was the middle of the week.

Marinette said something nasty under her breath and pulled herself up. "I've got to go, Chat," she said. "Truce? Until we can pick this up again?" she quickly added.

"Truce," I nodded, standing, and then holding up my baton and swiping it to the side. "A well fought battle, Princess. Do you want a lift?"

"No," she said as she repeated my maneuver and then started to hurry up the stairs. "I'm good. See you tonight?" she called over her shoulder.

"Of course," I replied to her retreating form, smiling.

I waited for her to get far enough away before leaping into the sky and running across the rooftops toward school, dropping into a side alley to drop my transformation before starting up the steps. Marinette, oddly, was coming around from the _other_alley on the far side of the school. She'd made better time than she should have, given how far she had to travel.

"You got here fast," I said as I fell in beside her.

"Hey, Adrien," she said, eyeing me. "What do you mean? I know I'm a bit earlier than normal, but it's pretty close to my usual time."

"I thought-" I paused, realizing I'd accidentally slipped a bit. I changed tacts. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"Yes," she replied, smiling slightly. "It's a purrfect morning for some catistenics."

My eyes widened as she turned away from me and trotted up to the door.

_Wait. Did she just…? Does she…? _I wondered, multiple thoughts overlapping suddenly.

I hurried after her, wondering what other surprises the day was holding.


	8. Valentine

**June 8: Valentine**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. I've completely fallen in love with the versions of our duo I introduced in the Roommates chapter back in May, so much so that they will soon be featured in their own full-length story this fall. In the meantime, let's continue our holiday themed visits with Chat and Marinette and see how their very first Valentine's Day turns out._

_As stipulated before, we have no rights to anything _Miraculous_. However, we've reworked the script DearestMrIcarus had us write for "Miriculus Laydiebugh: Tails of Laydiebugh and Katt Noewarr" and submitted it as the screenplay for the proposed live-action _Miraculous _musical. Our agent tells us we have a reasonable chance of it being produced, just as soon as he finishes his retirement paperwork._

_CM: So… I can keep singing all of those songs we wrote, right?_

_Ep and Ic in unison: NO!_

* * *

I woke early and rolled out of bed, stretching but not nearly as luxuriously as I could when transformed. Plagg was still snoring in the small bed Marinette had given him for Christmas, surrounded by socks he'd stolen out of my laundry hamper. It brought a smile to my face, seeing how settled the two of us had become despite the insanity of trying to hide my true identity from my girlfriend, who happened to be slumbering a handful of meters across the apartment from me. I could _kind_ of hear her snoring with what little feline abilities I possessed when I was Adrien, so I knew I had time.

Marinette's well-used Christmas gifts hung on the back of the door to the bathroom, and I quickly tied on the felt mask, ensuring in the mirror that it covered my face properly, then donned the hoodie with the cute cat ears. The fingerless gloves were carefully waiting for me at the sink, and I pulled them on. The Ladybug-themed sleeping pants were a running joke that clashed horribly with my ensemble.

Out in the kitchen, I quietly snuck out the ingredients to make waffles. Those cooking lessons she'd given me years ago at the Bakery had stood me in good stead since we moved in together, and as it was Valentine's Day, I wanted to flex a bit and give her something special. Being a weekday, we both had to get to work so I needed to work quickly to pull it off. I was also aware that both of us had engagements that evening - she with work, me with Ladybug and our nightly patrol; this would be our only time to celebrate the Lover's Holiday.

I pulled the batter out of the fridge, having made it last night prior to Marinette returning from work. I set it on the counter next to the special waffle iron that had nearly not made it in time. The little light had just gone off, so I quickly poured in the first round of batter and closed the lid.

While the first waffle steamed into existence, I laid some bacon across parchment paper and placed it into the oven; after setting the timer, I popped open the blueberry syrup I'd ordered from a small vendor in America that promised to taste like freshly picked fruit. The smell as I poured in into a saucepan to carefully warm up convinced me I'd made a good decision.

Humming to myself happily, I continued with my preparations and had just popped open the champagne for the mimosas when a sleepy-eyed Marinette appeared at her doorway and padded her way to the barstool across from me. "You've been busy, Chat," she said, eyes taking in the kitchen.

I leaned over to kiss her. "It's a special day," I said. "And I wanted to do something for my special person." I poured out the champagne into a fluted glass, added some orange juice, and slid it across to her. "Hungry?"

"Very," she said.

Putting on potholders, I withdrew two plates from the oven piled high with waffles and placed one in front of her; mine went beside her. The bacon was already waiting in a casserole and I quickly decanted the blueberry syrup into a carafe. I carefully untied my "This Kitty Is A Pure Bread" apron she'd given me during our lessons and started to pull it over my head; it was designed for a smaller version of me but I'd insisted on continuing to use it whenever in the kitchen.

My heart skipped slightly as it caught on one of the ears of the hoodie, sliding it back enough to showcase my normal blonde mane that is not nearly as unruly as Chat's. There was no way to hide it - I'd been facing Marinette at the time, but fortunately, she appeared to have been absorbed in the waffles on her plate.

"These… these are paw-shaped," she said, looking up.

By that point, I'd righted the ship by pulling the hoodie back into position. "Yes," I smiled as I laid the offending apron on the countertop and circled around the island to sit beside her. "I special-ordered it."

She looked back down. The waffle was a perfect facsimile of my Chat logo - with one change. I had added a tiny heart pattern inside the pad. "This is adorable!"

I leaned over and hugged her. "A tiny something," I smiled as I kissed her. "Now, try this syrup before it gets cold."

We dug in and I was pleasantly surprised that the waffles had come out as well as they had. I didn't normally do a yeast-based version, but the fluffiness was fantastic. Marinette agreed as we were clearing away the dishes. "I'd love for you to make those again," she said.

"I'm on it," I laughed. "And I'm glad you enjoyed them. I had a good teacher, you know."

"Just 'good?'" she asked, mock-frowning.

"Okay, the best," I answered quickly, then pulled her into a hug with a deep kiss.

"I've got to get ready for work," Marinette said sadly, after I let her go.

"Me, too." I kissed her goodbye and retreated to my bedroom, and she to hers.

The day passed uneventfully; I was booked for an auto show that day, standing next to a car and smiling. Some of the gigs felt like they were eliminating my brain cells, and this was high on that list. I was so bored, in fact, that I shucked out of the wardrobe they'd made me wear and removed the makeup in world record time. I fairly ran out the exit of the exhibit hall to locate the first empty alley I could find in order to transform back to Chat Noir.

Patrol with my partner was uneventful, and Ladybug bugged out fairly quickly after we made our circuit. It was unusual, but not unexpected; I'd assumed for a while now that she was also seeing someone, so I didn't begrudge her wanting to be with her main squeeze on Valentine's Day. As I sailed through the night to the apartment, I reflected that there had been a time that I'd wanted to be that guy; but not anymore.

Landing on my balcony, I rolled into the bedroom and right out into the main space. I'd not expected Marinette to be home and had intended to grab a cup of coffee before turning in. Instead, I tumbled right into my girlfriend who was busily setting something up on the counter.

"Princess?" I asked, rubbing my head where it had crashed into her thigh.

"Do you normally do that when I'm not here?" she countered, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe," I smirked as I stood up. "You're back early."

"As are you." She'd placed herself in front of whatever she'd been working on.

My masked eyes narrowed and I tried to sneak around her. "What is that?"

"Nothing," she said, deftly dodging me. "You _are_ a curious one, aren't you?"

"Cat," I said, pointing to my chest with a claw. "What is that?"

She stepped back from the counter. "I wanted this to be ready when you got home."

I felt my green feline eyes widen. Behind her was a top-of-the-line Keurig, the one that accepted pods but could also make several different types of espresso beverages. My eyes flipped back to Marinette. "Princess, that's-"

"The least I can do," she said. "And before you go worrying about how much it cost me, I got it through my father with his steep discount at the equipment supplier he uses." She laughed slightly. "I know how much you subsist on coffee. I figured it might as well be high quality."

"What an extraordinarily thoughtful surprise," I breathed. "Thank you."

She drew me into a hug. "Happy Valentines Day, Chaton."

I buried my head into her soft hair. "Here's to many more, mon cherie."


	9. Clumsy

**June 9: Clumsy**

_Author's Note: DearestMrIcarus here. Can you believe Ep and CM let me write another solo? I would have thought that after my last CATastrophe. This chapter starts us on a new story, one where Marinette FINALLY gets over Adrien. _

_We are trying very hard to get this musical moving… unfortunately all the music is based off of "Dear Evan Hansen"... I suppose my roommate plays it too loud and it got stuck in my head while I was writing. (Until then, we don't really own the rights to a whole lot of anything)._

_Copyright Lawyer: How many times do I have to tell you; you can't take someone else's work and call it your own. By the way, this is the last time I'm letting you guys pay me in coffee._

_Ep: Wait, is that why the Keurig is empty? CM, this is a crisis! Must… have… caffeine…_

_CM: He said no more coffee… so I'm going to bake some cookies!_

_Ic: Ep, he didn't take all the coffee. We still have about 30 cups… so like an hour's worth for you._

_Ep: *breathes into paper bag* focus… focus..._

* * *

"No, Alya, this time it's for real. I'm 100% done. It's literally impossible that Adrien is that oblivious. He knows how I feel, and for YEARS he's ignored it. So I'm done. I'm going to burn it all. Yes. Yup, that too. Yeah, all of them. E...even t-that. Yes Alya, I am crying," Marinette sniffled over the phone, "I'm going to burn it… yes. I'm sure. All of it. No, I need to do this alone."

Marinette pressed the end call button and began her emotional journey.

Slowly, she went to her closet and retrieved a shoebox hidden in the corner. She carried it to the balcony.

Next, placed the fire barrel in the middle of her balcony. Technically she knew this was probably illegal, but it was a small contained fire, and no one would notice the tiny wisp of smoke coming from her rooftop.

She began with the easy stuff. Carefully she placed the magazine clippings in the bottom of the barrel. Marinette stifled a sob as she covered those pictures with more personal ones. Selfies with Adrien, pictures Alya had taken of him, and of them together.

It was by this point tears were rolling down her cheeks. She took a moment to say goodbye to each one.

_This one was me and Adrien at the picnic. He called me an "everyday ladybug"._

_Here's one of us in fencing gear._

_Oh, I love this one Alya took during lunch._

_And this is one we took when I snuck Adrien into a movie theatre._

She allowed herself to feel grief, struggling through each memory, each painful reminder that Adrien had, did, and always would see her as a friend and nothing more.

Finally she got to the hard part. Which was unfortunate as tears already soaked her face.

She added one black umbrella to the mix. She knew it was ridiculous, as the metal frame wouldn't burn, but she had to make it unrecognizable, destroy every trace of Adrien Agreste from her heart.

Next came Adrien's love letter.

_This one's not hard. He technically never even gave it to me… in fact, I don't even know if it was meant for me._

Of course it didn't matter. Regardless of what Marinette told herself, the card was a symbol of hope. It was a sign that maybe Adrien did love her.

And so she had to crush that insurrection. She would no longer allow those rebellious hopes to dwell in her mind. Marinette's brain was a totalitarian regime, and it had declared feelings for Adrien to be illegal and immoral. No part of her heart would be spared. She would topple the old regime and it's former ways. And so she wiped away the tears even as she tossed the paper in the container.

At last came it. The item that must come. Her birthday present.

_Please. Not this. I know I said I'd destroy everything, but please._

Silence filled the air, until it was suffocated by a ghastly scream.

"NO! I CAN"T! NOT HIS FRIENDSHIP BRACELET!" she cried.

As she screamed into the Parisian sky, she saw something in the distance flying by. She watched as the purple mass moved closer and closer, and then it hit her.

_That's an Akuma, and it isn't flying by. It's flying at me!_

Before she could respond by calming her emotions, the winged demon was upon her. She tried to back away, but in spectacularly Marinetteish fashion, she backed against the guard railing and took a tumble down.

_So this is how it ends. A fall from my own clumsiness. I am clumsy._

A sense of peace came over her. It might be a fall to her death, but she had lived a good life. She had loved, and helped others, and made good friends.

She watched her room from outside of her window.

_Goodbye, room._

Then, she saw a peak of her living room, where Sabine was busy making dinner. A tinge of sadness entered her mind as she thought of how her mother would take this horrible accident.

_I'm sorry Maman. I love you._

Up next came the bakery window. Her last stop before she made it to her destination. She saw Tom kneading a bowl of dough.

_Goodbye Papa._

In the remaining fraction of a second she took one final gasp of breath.

_Goodbye. This was a good life._

She closed her eyes and felt the impact, though it was somewhat softer than she had expected. Perhaps that's what death did, it softened the pain. Marinette let her death sink in. She was gone from the world, there would be no designer, or baker, or Ladybug. Chat Noir would lose his favorite person to flirt with, and Alya would lose her friend.

"Purrincess, you can open your eyes now."

Marinette opened her eyes, prepared to meet the angel of death.

What she saw instead was Chat Noir holding her, standing on the rooftop terrace.

"Chat? I'm alive," she asked.

"Yeah. That was a pretty tricky move you pulled to avoid that Akuma… but maybe next time you can let me and LB handle it. I would rather get injured fighting you, than lose you."

She could hear the fear in Chat's voice, as could he. He quickly threw on a cocky face.

"Hey Purrincess. How about a kiss for the brave knight who saved you?"

Maybe it was the shock, but she didn't seem to register the joke. Trembling she aimed a kiss for his cheek. The funny thing about trembling is that it seems to throw off one's aim. In this case, it caused Marinette to place her lips squarely on his.

It took her just a moment to realize what had happened, and she quickly pulled away.

"Sorry. That was supposed to be on the cheek! I'm so sorry!"

Chat smiled nervously. "That's alright Purrincess. I enjoyed it while it lasted."

The words turned her cheeks red, and she noticed hers matched his.

_What...What's going on. Did I just blush because of Chat?_

Her mind began to race and she quickly found herself wanting to kiss him again. After all, Chat was everything Adrien wasn't. He was funny, a hero, and actually shared his feelings, even if it was just shallow flirting.

"Hey, Chat, I know this is weird, but can I kiss you again?" she asked, surprising even herself.

"Um…" his face turned from a trace of crimson to red as a tomato.

"Oh, Ladybug, sorry I forgot."

Chat seemed to relax. "No, it's not that. I used to really love her, but I've had years to try and get her attention. I finally decided to quit that. It's just that…"

"Yes?"

"Well, you've obviously been crying a lot, and I don't want to take advantage of a vulnerable girl… actually I don't have a clue what happened before your little tumble."

Marinette looked at him in surprise. "You mean you don't just want to kiss me?"

"Sure, I'd love to kiss you… Actually. I've had a bit of a crush on you for a while… It's just that I don't care to make a sweet moment into a careless second of lust."

Her mouth fell open.

_Did I misjudge Chat for all these years._

"How about for now we just talk about what happened?" he asked sweetly,"I can be a shoulder for you to cry on. I'll put my crush aside and I'll just be a listening friend."

_Wow. I really did skip out on this sweet sensitive guy._

Noticing he was still looking for answers, she began.

"Well, there's this guy I really like-liked. And I decided I finally needed to get over him. He isn't interested, and it's 100% obvious… that or he is 100% mentally incompetent. So I gathered everything related to him, and decided to burn it all. Well… he gave me a friendship bracelet, and I couldn't bear to destroy it. But I want to get over him."

Chat looked at her thoughtfully. "Well first of all, any guy who knew you had feelings for him and didn't return them is an idiot. And secondly, I've given and received a few friendship bracelets. If you still care about him as a friend, you should hold on to it, not because you still harbor romantic feelings, but rather as a reminder that you'll always be friends.

She looked at him and smiled. "Chat, how did I get so lucky to have a friend like you?"

"Hahaha, Princess, you're kidding me, right? You're the best thing that has ever happened to me." He instantly blushed as he realized what he had said. "I...I mean-"

Realization dawned on Marinette. "Chat. Chat, when you said you liked me, you meant like … a lot? Like a big crush?"

Chat's blush disappeared, instead replacing itself with a pale look. "No… more like...love." He winced as if he was expecting her to beat him upside the head.

Without thinking, Marinette grabbed him in a firm embrace. "Chat! How was I so blind? The only reason I've always tried to push myself away from you was because I thought you couldn't take things seriously."

Hope shown on his face. "So maybe you can burn these things and we can see where things take us?"

Instead of answering, Marinette released him and struck a match and tossed it into the fire barrel, sending up a small flame and plume of smoke. As the pictures burned, she threw herself around Chat, wrapping her arms around him and placing her lips on his.

As they shared a romantic kiss, Chat was unaware of the last picture, picked up by the wind. It was a little snip of his own face, though as an ember crawled up the picture, it was consumed with the rest.

_I'm not gonna make the same mistake as the idiot who let Marinette go. _

"I purromise to hold on to you furrever," he whispered into her ear.


	10. Cardboard Noir

**June 10: Cardboard Noir**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. Technically, DearestMrIcarus and I are team writing this off-plumb thought experiment coming out of the Season 3 episode, _Oblivio_, but we have no idea if or when ChubbyUnicornMama will crash the party on us (so we're writing this at top speed). If you've not seen that episode yet, shame on you. But don't read any further if you want to experience the joy in person._

_CM: Seriously… even Ep's seen it! *grumbles* but I know when I'm not wanted. *goes off to pout in the corner*_

_So, what happens when Chat finally gets that kiss with Ladybug, but she's firmly against going any further? A kitty with a cardboard costume looking for a friend to talk to: a conflicted Marinette._

* * *

Chat Noir found himself wearing a goofy smile on his face, for there, on Alya's phone, was a picture of the one thing he'd been dreaming of since first meeting Ladybug. Judging from his partner's reaction, however, she wasn't feeling exactly the same set of emotions.

It likely didn't help that Alya was whooping like she'd found an undiscovered treasure trove among the HVAC units atop the high rise they were all standing on.

He turned toward Ladybug, who was sputtering wildly. "Milady-"

"_Enough already!_" she fairly screamed. She started to say something else, but like his ring, her earrings had begun their final countdown. Glaring at Chat, she turned back toward Alya. "Promise me you won't be posting that anywhere? Please?"

Alya kept smiling. "Are you kidding? This is-"

"_Not _for public consumption," Ladybug said firmly. "Besides, we aren't a couple. I don't want your readers to get the wrong impression."

Chat felt his ears wilting. "Ladybug, maybe we should talk this-"

She whirled on him. "That's what got us into this mess," she said, shortly, pointing a gloved hand at the phone. "Talking and being distracted by personal feelings." Her earrings chirped again. "I've got to bug out." Ladybug glared one final time at Alya, but resigned herself to the fact that in a few hours, everyone in Paris would likely see what had transpired between her and Chat. Hurling her yo-yo to the sky, she leapt out after it and was gone.

"It's okay, Chat," Alya said to the remaining superhero, who very much looked like someone had just stolen his hamster. "Give her time."

"I suppose," he said. Skipping his normal post-akuma-attack pun, he simply leapt off the rooftop and helicoptered away from the high rise, looking for a quiet place to drop into and de-transform. He knew he had little time before the ring made its final chirp, and even less time to get back to the bus and his class before Adrien would be missed.

A likely space appeared and he redirected toward a small alleyway a block away from where the field trip had gone horribly wrong. Rolling out of his tuck, he made sure the coast was clear and then called out: "Plagg - claws in!"

The green flash of de-transformation did its work, and Adrien found himself standing in the alley, covered in pieces of cardboard. From his restricted vision, he deduced he was wearing a cardboard-based helmet as well, and reached up to pull the headgear off. He turned it over in his hands and discovered it was a fairly good facsimile of his Chat ears and mask.

_What happened in that building? _he found himself wondering. _Did I make this? It looks like something Marinette would do, not me._

Plagg floated up to his face wearing a grin. "Cute, kid," he laughed. "Though the original is superior."

"I agree," Adrien said as he extended his arms and realized the entire outfit had been made to look like he was Chat Noir. He even had a tail, though what might have been his baton seemed to have been lost along the way. He looked back at Plagg. "Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"

"No," Plagg frowned. "I wonder what you encountered that you had to make Chat a Chat costume."

"Maybe I wasn't Chat," Adrien said. "But I needed someone to think I was."

"You had to have been wearing it when you transformed," Plagg observed, "so you must have not been able to call for your transformation when you needed it."

Adrien turned the headgear over in his hands again. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by whatever that akuma had been shooting and landing in an elevator with Ladybug. Plagg was right, if he had made the costume, he'd had a reason he'd needed to look like Chat but couldn't transform. What made him flush a bit was the second possibility: someone had made the cardboard costume for him or with him, and might now privy to his secret.

_There's no way I'm talking to Ladybug about this… at least not yet. Not until I know that we are all spacing on what happened today._

He was out of time and had to get back. Quickly, he removed his cardboard Noir outfit and carefully hid it behind a dumpster in the alley with an eye toward retrieving it later. As Adrien hustled back to the bus, he knew he needed to talk it out with someone; the only candidate was getting on the bus just ahead of him, and he felt like he'd need some props to start the conversation.

Marinette slid into the seat by the window, and he joined her, eliciting a slight gasp. "That was wild," he said conversationally. "How much do you remember?" he asked.

She looked at him uncomfortably. "Not enough, apparently," she replied, which caused a raised eyebrow from Adrien.

Adrien was lost. It seemed that everyone had forgotten everything. But he couldn't help but think that the box suit had some meaning.

"Oh, so you don't remember anything about _us_?" he asked.

Marinette's cheeks reddened. "U-u-us?" She cursed herself for stuttering on a two letter word.

"Yeah, I mean, do you remember where you were when you 'woke up' from the memory loss?"

She looked at him anxiously. "Um… down in the basement I think."

_So she wasn't anywhere near the roof. I guess I was wrong, she doesn't know anything about Chat Noir._

Adrien shrugged and patted her hand. "Thanks, sorry I thought-well nevermind."

Something in her eyes told him that she hadn't told him everything she was thinking. He enjoyed the bus ride home in silence, scheming up plans to find out what Marinette hadn't told him. Of course being Adrien, he was completely unaware that he had left his hand on top of Marinette's.

When Adrien got home, he went through his regular schedule. He had a photoshoot, fencing practice, and Chinese lessons. When his day was finally over, he walked into his room and let out a sigh of relief. Before his Kwami could reach Adrien's cheese stash, he called out his favorite phrase. "Plagg, claws out!"

Within a moment, he was helicoptering towards Marinette's balcony. He was surprised, though not too surprised to see the girl staring out at the night sky.

"Hey Purrincess. How are you doing today?" Chat asked, offering a genuine smile he generally reserved for Ladybug.

"Good, Chat. Is there something I can help you with right now? Ladybug didn't stand you up again, did she?" Marinette asked less than worriedly.

"No, I'm just doing some investigative duties tonight. Any chance I could ask you a couple questions?"

"Sure?" Marinette wore a quizzical expression, but if Chat noticed, he ignored it.

"Where were you during Oblivio's attack today?"

Marinette looked at him half nervous and half curious.

"Why do you ask, Chat?"

"Don't worry about it. Please just answer," he begged.

Marinette stopped. She couldn't remember what she had told Adrien. Not that Chat would know if her lies had discrepancies, but she preferred it that way if possible.

"Um…. somewhere in the lobby."

"Ah, I see," Chat said, realizing two things. She had lied, and she had told the lie to Adrien and Chat, so she didn't know they were one in the same. He resigned himself to not knowing her secret, and bid her farewell. As he removed his baton, he lept in the direction of his box suit, helicoptering to the alleyway, and stopping just short of it. As he walked towards it, he couldn't get it out of his mind.

_Why did Marinette lie to me?_

As he reached the makeshift costume, he felt a blow to the back of his head. Things became fuzzy, and he saw a stranger, with four arms, each covered in red boxing gloves, that looked kind of like speakers, pry off his miraculous. As soon as he detransformed, the Akuma left, not even bothering to confirm his identity. The hit was tougher than Adrien realized, because he suddenly felt quite exhausted.

Adrien woke up what felt like hours later with a headache. A voice echoed through the streets.

_"I am Boomboxer," _ the Akuma announced through his gloves, which apparently emitted sound.

_Wow, no reason that punch felt like a sonic boom to the back of my head._

_"Ladybug, I have defeated Chat Noir and taken his Miraculous. Hawkmoth has also noted a peculiar thing. Marinette Dupain-Cheng assisted you taking down Evilistrator, and seems to be at the site of many Akuma attacks. He has drawn the only reasonable conclusion from this: Marinette is helping Team Miraculous. Now, Hawkmoth has Marinette. Ladybug, you have one hour to surrender your Miraculous, or your friend, Marinette will pay the price."_

Adrien looked at his ringless hand, then down at the cardboard boxes. He knew what he had to do. Fortunately, he'd been fairly gentle with how he'd hidden the Cardboard Noir costume, and it was more or less intact despite having a few extra creases. Sliding it on and uncoiling his tail, he popped the helmet over his blonde hair and started scanning the space for a suitable replacement for his baton.

Without the ring, he knew he was at a disadvantage. He was pretty certain he still had some of the quasi-enhanced senses he'd developed from holding the Miraculous and prayed to the kwami gods it would hang around long enough for him to rescue Marinette. That would come first; getting the ring back was important, but not as important as saving his classmate. He'd have to rely on Ladybug reclaiming his ring if it came down to it.

He found what he was looking for buried deep in the dumpster: a discarded closet rod, about a meter and half in length. Just about right for parrying, perhaps, and nothing more. Not that he'd be vaulting or helicoptering in his current state of affairs.

But the akuma might not be completely aware of what he could do or not do. That might work in his favor - at least until Hawkmoth could correct the record. It would give him an advantage for perhaps a few moments, so he'd have to make the most of them.

Chat (he had to think of himself in those terms) ran out of the alley and hurried down the street, ignoring the stairs of the pedestrians as he passed. He didn't need to listen to Boomboxer's droning to know where he was holding Marinette and he confirmed it when he rounded the final corner and looked up to the rooftop patio atop the Bakery. Squinting, the last vestiges of his superior feline vision saw what he expected: the four-armed creature, with Marinette off to it's side.

Without thinking, Chat leapt to the side of the Bakery, intent on climbing, and made it a few meters before realizing he had no claws and started to slide to earth. Looking around for options, he stashed the closet rod in his cardboard belt and began shimmying up the downspout. Halfway to the top, he paused, and tried to forget that if he fell, he was quite likely not able to land on all fours. Swallowing hard and ignoring the sweat rolling across his brow, he resumed his climb, and ultimately found himself hiding below the half brick wall just behind the chaise Marinette favored.

Breathing a bit hard, he scanned the space. He knew he need only rescue Marinette and effect her escape, for Ladybug would soon be on the scene. Chat looked for anything that would be useful, and his eyes fell upon the teaset Marinette had been using during his earlier appearance as Chat. Putting aside his frustration with her lie, he gauged the distance and made a decision.

Deftly leaping up and over the brick, he raised his ring hand and cried, "Cataclysm!"

The akuma and Marinette both swung around as he brushed his fingers across the teapot before grabbing it and hurling it toward the akuma. He'd targeted what appeared to be goggle-type eyes but didn't wait to see if he'd made his mark. Channelling some fencing moves, he dove over the lounge and rolled to Marinette. Standing in front of her, he gently put one hand against her and pushed Marinette toward the skylight, careful to keep himself between her and the sputtering Boomboxer. He took no small pleasure in seeing the hot tea _had _nailed the akuma in the face; two of it's four arms were frantically trying to wipe away the steaming concoction.

"Chat… Noir?" he heard from behind him as he continued to push Marinette toward the skylight.

"Get to the skylight!" he said. "Quickly, Purrincess! _Quickly!_"

Boomboxer had turned and was moving fast across the small space. Chat bopped at the nearer arm that was reaching blindly toward them, and it recoiled; the second free arm pointed toward him, and he worried it was going to incapacitate both of them with another of those sonic blasts. He heard the skylight scratch open, eyed the distance, and hurled his makeshift baton at the arm.

The rod embedded in the speaker, and a shower of sparks rained down on the patio. Chat started to turn and join Marinette, who had already dropped into the relative safety of the bedroom, but he'd caught a glance of something that made him turn back. Of the four arms, two were still wiping away tea, and the third was sparking.

The fourth appeared to have his ring on a small bracelet around the wrist; he'd seen the silver flash as it caught the late afternoon sun.

Without really thinking, he dove forward and beneath the arm, sliding on his cardboard-covered stomach over the tea-covered surface. He belatedly realized he had no way to slow down, and simply yanked on the ring as he went by. Boomboxer flailed at him, but he continued on, smacking his faux cat ears into the wrought iron and momentarily seeing stars as a result.

But the ring was in his hand.

Scampering to his feet, sliding a bit on the slick surface, he dove over the edge of the railing and rammed the ring back onto his finger at the same time, not bothering to wait for Plagg to appear. "Plagg - claws out!" he cried as the ground rushed up to meet him.

The green flash of transformation washed over him and he barely managed to get his baton around in time to vault back away from the street at the last possible moment. He was a little out of control due to the speed of his descent, and hit the building opposite at an odd angle. But he didn't care - he was again Chat, and launched himself off the side of the edifice with all the power than entailed, fairly growling as he crossed the space to the Bakery.

Clawing his way up properly this time, he hooked over the edge of the wrought iron, and faced Boomboxer, baton whirling and masked eyes narrowed for attack mode. "Are you feline lucky, punk?" he asked lowly.

It seemed that by this point both of the tea soaked speaker fists had shorted out, leaving Boomboxer with a single functioning weapon.

_I can beat a guy who only has one functioning hand._

However, Chat could not do so when he was distracted. And that particular event occured as he spotted a certain ravenette running into an alleyway across the street.

_No time to be thinking about Marinette. I gotta fight._

No sooner had Chat thought this, than a superpowered fist had found its way into his face. In fact, the speaker-glove never actually touched his face, so much as it darted in front of it and emitted a blast that knocked Chat off the building, and simultaneously knocking his staff in the other direction.

As he plummetted to a swift demise, a single thought flew through his mind.

"Today is a good day to die!"

He suddenly felt strong yet nimble arms wrap around him, placing him gently in the ground.

"Duras… and the day is not over yet," he mumbled.

"What is that supposed to mean Kitty?" Chat's crimson clad comrade questioned.

"Oh, nothing… it's from an old TV show. I need to stop hanging around people who watch too much- wait, what was I saying?"

"Chat I think you have a concussion. Let me take care of this Akuma," Ladybug pleaded.

"Good call, I'll make sure Marinette is safe," Chat responded. His partner winced as he walked into the alley she had just been in.

She turned back to the Akuma, yoyo twirling and at the ready. Ladybug charged, and found herself somewhat unnerved as Boomboxer followed suit. She wasn't sure what was more menacing, the gloved fist ready to strike, or the three limp arms dangling by the Akuma's waist as he ran.

She watched his hands bounce and flail, and saw the determination in this villain's eyes.

"I will get the miraculous, and then I'll get revenge on everyone who changed my music at the boxing gym."

She was shocked to see the blast knocked her yoyo into the air, leaving her defenseless. In a quick moment, she reacted. "Lucky Charm."

A stereo fell to the ground, playing one of her favorite Jagged Stone songs.

"Ew, that swill? That's just as bad as what everyone else listens to," he complained, turning to change the music.

Ladybug grabbed a broken shard of glass and leapt at him, shoving it into the remaining glove. It tore at the seams, revealing a purple insect, which began an escape attempt.

Ladybug had retrieved her yoyo, and offered her concluding phrase, "Time to deevilize!"

As she bid the creature adieu, she turned to the alley, and strained to hear Chat mumbling, forming half coherent thoughts.

"Marinette, where are you, Marinette? I need to find you, or I'll play russian roulette, with starfleet's finest cadet. Mari! It's me! Your friend… Adr…. Chat. Chat Agre… I mean Chat Noir… Please… find me. I'm lost Marinette. I need you to find me…?"

By this point she had called miraculous ladybug, and had detransformed, running to the back way, towards her partner.

"Chat we need to get you to a doctor. I think you have a serious concussion."

"The only serious problem I have are liars! I know your secret!" he called back.

Marinette gulped. "And what exactly is that Chat?" she asked as knelt beside her kitty, placing a tentative hand on his costumed back.

He grinned up at her, looking at her through his long bangs. "You lied to me, Milady."

"I'm not sure what you mean," she replied, a bit startled at his expression. "Look, you've been injured; we really should get you some medical attention."

He pushed himself up from the crouch he'd been in, and made a quick move to envelop her in a hug. "I'm purrfectly fine, Princess," he said. "Miraculous Ladybug has left me with just a dull ache, which will go away in a few hours. I just wanted you alone with me for a moment."

Marinette was looking - and feeling - confused. "But, you were mumbling a bit incoherently a moment ago - and accusing me of lying -"

"You did," he said. "For you can't be in two places at once."

He watched as a series of emotions flickered across her face. To her credit, she tried to keep to the party line. "I don't know what you mean."

"I asked you where you were for the Oblivio akuma."

"Right."

"You said you were in the basement."

"Exactly," she nodded.

_Ah - you told _Adrien _that, Milady, _he thought to himself as he tried to keep his expression neutral. "But you also told me you were in the lobby, Milady."

It wasn't lost on her that he'd used his affectionate moniker for Ladybug. Twice now. The tiny part of her brain that wasn't panicking that he'd figured out she was Ladybug fervently hoped he was still suffering from the effects of his concussion.

An even tinier part was also sending up flares that he might have given her a clue as to his own identity; she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Marinette pulled back from him a bit, and he could see the color in her face. "Oh," she said slowly. "That's right, it was the lobby," she added with a wan smile. "It's hazy, to be honest."

"I'm sure," he said, letting her go and backing up a bit. "I dropped by earlier because I was concerned someone had seen my alter ego during that akuma, and wanted some advice; I never expected to learn yours."

His knowing smirk had her spluttering, but she had to keep up appearances. "You're hurt, Chat," she tried, but the increasing color on her face told him his intuitive guess had hit it's mark.

Chat knew, despite his injuries from the sonic blast, Marinette _should_ have been in that alley when Ladybug had left him to fight Boomboxer; it was a blind alley, and unless she'd had a magic yo-yo, there was no quick exit.

Except, she did have a magic yo-yo, didn't she?

_I've told you enough, and you've seen enough, to piece my identity together, Milady_, he thought, gazing at her affectionately and willing her to make the connection.

For her part, as shocked as she was that Chat had guessed she was Ladybug, an image of Cardboard Noir fighting on her rooftop popped into her head. She'd seen the blonde hair and green eyes, and had just assumed it was Chat; now, though, she realized it _had _been Chat, but in his civilian form. The hair was shorter, more styled. She'd seen that before, hadn't she? But where…?

_I told Adrien I was in the basement. But Chat says I told _him _that -_

Chat smiled as he saw Marinette's face register surprise, then shock, then a fuzzy happiness that became more focused. "No _way_…" she breathed, and then flung herself at Chat, wrapping her arms around him. "Adrien? You've been Kitty… all this time…!"

"Exactly, Bugaboo," he laughed. "Surprised?"

"Just a bit," she said, leaning back. "But maybe not. You?"

"No," he said. "You _are _Ladybug, in or out of costume. I must be fitting the 'dumb blonde' stereotype for not seeing it sooner."

"In fairness, I was trying to hide in plain sight."

"Same here," he laughed.

"Come on," she said, tugging at his arm. "Let me feed you, kitty; we have a lot to talk about."

"As you wish, Princess," he said solemnly, though his heart was overflowing with joy.


	11. Innocent

**June 11: Innocent**

_It wasn't what it looked like. A kiss on the cheek taken completely out of context. A thank you to a superhero who saved her. _

_Author's Note (Chubby Unicorn Mama): I must have been picked to write this chapter because I am just so sweet and innocent, and would NEVER come up with a master plan to take over the rights to Miraculous. Alright, Icarus, would you hold this pen, and sign right here. Don't read the rest of it, just sign T-H-O-M-A-S A-S-T-R-U-C._

_Ic: *Uncapping pen* Sure, what is this, some sort of activist art about the ruthlessness of modern contracts? *begins signing* Well, I guess it seems pretty reasonable to sign… wait… Did I just spell Thomas Astruc?_

_Ep: Uh, guys, why are police cars pulling up outside?_

* * *

Thank goodness she'd worn her hair down that day. She wasn't sure what possessed her to do it, it must be her ladybug luck, but she was grateful. If it had been in her typical pigtails, she might have been recognized as either Marinette or Ladybug, but as it was, the question of the day was 'who is Chat Noir's girlfriend?'

It had all started innocently enough. An akuma had appeared at the Trocadero where Marinette was sketching, and she had been cornered, trying to distract the akuma, so that a group of young kids and their mothers could escape without being encased in marshmallow fluff. Chat had appeared next to her, snatching her up moments before she was engulfed in a world of white, and carried her away. When he set her down, several rooftops away, he thanked her for her help, but asked her to stay safe. Marinette had raised herself up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and tell him to be careful.

Unfortunately, the angle of the camera that caught their actions, made it appear much more passionate than it was. Alya had immediately posted the picture on the Ladyblog, and it had gone viral. Ladybug had shown up a minute after Chat had returned, and together they had quickly resolved the sticky situation. When she transformed, Ladybug's pigtails had magically appeared, so nobody suspected the blue-haired girl caught kissing Chat Noir could be her.

Later that evening, sitting on her balcony, Marinette apologized to Chat, who had stopped by to check on her. "I'm sorry, Kitty. I didn't mean to get you in trouble on social media."

"It's alright, Princess." He responded. "I'm used to the attention. I'm just glad that they didn't know it was you. If I hadn't been there, and known it was just a peck on the cheek, I would definitely have thought that picture showed a lot more." He waggled his eyebrows, and she laughed. "Besides, I'm used to being splashed all over the internet. You just learn to ignore it."

Having recently learned that passionfruit macarons were Chat's favorite, Marinette had made them especially for him tonight. His smile was rapturous as he bit into the flavorful meringue. "Princess, if fashion design ever falls through, which it won't, I'll hire you as my personal chef!" They hung around, talking, for an hour or so, while Chat worked his way through the plate of confections. When Marinette yawned, he stood up and stretched. "Goodnight, Purrincess. I will see you around." With a cheeky wink, he added, "Try not to get yourself caught in any more compromising situations!"

Her surprised laughter followed him as he headed home across the rooftops.

A week later, Marinette is in her room doing homework, when she hears a knocking on her skylight. Looking up, she sees Chat Noir, waving sheepishly at her. Waving back, she heads up to her balcony to ascertain what he was there for, when she found Chat standing there, smiling almost shyly, with dinner laid out on her wooden table. Smiling up at him, she inquired, "What's this for?"

His hand reaching up to rub the back of his head, "Well, I, uh, kinda didn't want to be home right now, and I can't exactly hang out with Ladybug, and we had fun last week…"

Her smiled turned softer. "You're always welcome here, Chat Noir. You don't have to bring anything but yourself. I'll always be a friend to you."

His nervous smile turned radiant, and he pulled her into an enthusiastic hug. "Thank you, Marinette!"

For a few weeks, Saturday night became a standing date between the two of them. Chat would arrive with a new board game, which Marinette usually won; she would feed him, and they would spend an hour or two, just hanging out, talking as friends do. One Tuesday night, Chat arrived on her balcony with a backpack, and the two did homework together in companionable silence.

Tuesdays, too, became a regular night for Chat to visit, and then Thursdays were added. As the weather started to turn colder, it wasn't unusual for Chat Noir to be visiting Marinette 3-4 days a week. Their visits moved from Marinette's rooftop retreat into her bedroom, and Chat added a few of his favorite video games to the rotation of things that he brought.

Marinette's wall of Adrien had decreased significantly over the past few months. It had started to diminish when Jagged Stone had pointed it out on national television, but the magazine pictures were being replaced by candid photos, not just of Adrien, but of all of their friends, even a few of Chat Noir. Adrien still featured heavily among them, taking up more real estate than any of her other friends. One day, Chat Noir brought this to Marinette's attention.

"So, Marinette. How come you have more pictures of that Adrien guy than you do of me? Aren't I handsome enough for you? I'm feline kind of left off your walls!"

"You're up there!" Marinette protested, pointedly ignoring his questions, and gesturing to the pictures of him she had printed off the Ladyblog.

"Yes, but you didn't take any of these!" He whined, not knowing that she'd actually cropped herself, her Ladybug self, out of one of them.

She laughed at him. "What? I should put up a selfie of you and me, sitting here in my room for everyone to see?"

"Not everyone, Princess. How many people do you have come into your room?" He countered.

"Normally, not that many people, but once Jagged Stone and a full camera crew have been in your room broadcasting live and making assumptions about the boy you like, you might be a little wary about what you put on your walls, too."

Chat Noir nodded. "Fair point. But it is just wrong that we've never taken a selfie together!" At this, he pulled out his baton. "Smile, I promise nobody will find this picture!" Snapping several pictures, over which Marinette displayed a range of emotions from surprise, annoyance, acceptance, and finally a radiant smile, Chat was grinning roguishly through all of them.

"So, Princess, why do you have so many pictures of Blondie there? I think there were more when I saw them on TV, but you still have more of him than anyone else. Should I be jealous?"

Marinette blushed. "I had a crush on him since the second day I've known him. He's kind and brave, thoughtful and smart. He's lonely, but he does his best to hide it where nobody can see. He doesn't see me as anything except a good friend, so I'm trying to be the best friend to him that I can be."

"You said had, Princess. Does that mean you no longer have a crush on him?" For some reason that Marinette couldn't understand, Chat looked slightly disappointed.

"Adrien will always have a special place in my heart, but these days, there's been someone else on my mind."

Seeming to droop even more, Chat turned as if to study her wall of photos. "Is he up here?"

"He is" replied Marinette. "But I didn't take a selfie with him until today."

Chat Noir spun to look at her, "Me, Princess?" He asked, a note of hope creeping into his voice.

Marinette smiled up at him, her whole face radiant. "Yes, Kitty. You."

Pulling her to him, Chat Noir slowly lowered his lips to meet Marinette's upturned ones. This time the kisses that they shared were not nearly so innocent.


	12. Future

**June 12: Future**

_Author's Note: Chubby Unicorn Mama here! Icarus and I got to write this fun little story together. It's kind of our ultimate Marichat is better than Ladrien. Even though (Ep, avert your eyes!) it does contain Ladrien. Kissing Ladrien. MARRIED Ladrien. Marichat is still better. _

_In our latest attempt to gain some modicum of control over the rights to Miraculous, I asked Ep to write to this company called ACME. Apparently they make all kinds of products to help you accomplish your goals. _

_Ep: They do! I just received the order of ACME Anvils that I can now drop on the head of whoever approved the Ladrien kiss in this story. Geez Louise._

_CM: Yep. It was Louise. I blame her for everything._

* * *

They lounged in a sunny, secluded spot in the park. Marinette was soaking up the rays, but Chat was basking in it. He was laying there with his head on her lap, her nimble fingers scratching around his kitty ears, a contented purr rumbling in his chest. His black suit sucked up the heat, and it soaked into his bones, making him feel like the luckiest, happiest person alive. He looked up into his girlfriend's bluebell eyes. "I love you, Marinette. I can't imagine having this, being this person with anyone else. You are everything to me."

Her eyes filled with tears, and her smile turned incandescent. "I love you too, Chat. You are the best thing to ever happen to me. I can't imagine loving anyone else this much." The two stared into each other's eyes for a minute, before Chat shifted his position, capturing Marinette's lips sweetly, tenderly; resting one hand against her cheek, his other hand holding her at the waist, pulling her closer to him.

Both of Marinette's arms were wound around him, one gently stroking the back of his neck, the other diving into his hair, pulling his head down, and turning the kiss more passionate. She had known that she'd been in love with Chat for some time, but this was the first time they'd spoken the words to each other.

They pulled back to catch their breath, blue eyes locked with green, their lips scant centimeters apart, breath mingling. They were so wrapped up in each other that it wasn't really surprising they didn't notice the akuma until she was mere feet away. When they finally registered the screech about seeing into the future, it was too late, they were blasted. The world around them changed. It was subtle, but it was there.

Judging by the face, his face, that was still plastered over billboards, they were about 15 years in the future. The Adrien on the billboard appeared to be in his early 30's and time had been good to him. He had filled out, was no longer lean, but muscular, impressively so, even to him. His hair was a shade lighter, and he was slightly more tanned.

He heard a gasp off to his left, followed by a soft, sad sounding "No!" He turned to Marinette, and followed her gaze. In the shade of the tree he saw the same man as he saw on the billboard, only this time, he had a red and black spotted heroine plastered to him, kissing her like she was his salvation. He, too, let out an involuntary gasp. Partly because he would kiss somebody other than Marinette, and partly because of the shock and the hurt he saw on Marinette's face as she observed the pair.

He knew that she had a crush on Adrien before they were together, but he was hurt to see that look on her face, when she saw Adrien kissing someone else. Great, now he was jealous of himself.

The couple under the tree stopped and stared at each other. Even with Chat's superhearing, he couldn't make out what his future self was saying.

"M'Lady, is today the day?"

She stopped and looked at him. "It is, isn't it?" she shouted.

Adrien turned to the the trees where the younger versions were standing and waved at Chat and Marinette. He was rewarded with a swift thunk to the head.

"Ouch. Sorry LB, but I remembered me… Adrien me, waving at Chat me. So it was meant to happen."

Ladybug offered an overly sweet smile. "And I remember Ladybug bopping him on the head right after. So also destined to happen."

Adrien sighed. He wasn't going to win an argument with Ladybug.

Adrien watched Chat point to himself then to Adrien… or also himself? He gave a thumbs up.

Across the way, Chat couldn't believe it. He had watched Ladybug slap Adrien upside the head as if it were Chat standing there.

Without a word he scooped up Marinette and bounded off the terrace, , using his baton to bring them into a safe landing.

"H-hi… um… Ladybug, Monsieur Agreste. Um… It's me, Chat Noir… from the past."

Adrien smiled at Ladybug. "Can I tell them?" He pleaded.

Ladybug shot him a dirty look. "You know that's not how it happened."

Chat and Marinette looked at her confused.

"Um… so um… you guys are together?" Chat finally asked, pushing away Ladybug's foreshadowing statement.

Adrien wrapped his arms around Ladybug and looked at Marinette. "Yes, and she's the love of my life, inside the mask and out."

Marinette blushed, which only made Chat angrier. How dare Future him flaunt his new lover to his current girlfriend. He would have some words with him. Or himself?

"Chat, I'm guessing you want to talk to me before we discuss how you guys get back? It would give our lovely ladies time to talk as well."

Chat nodded and the pair walked a good distance away from Ladynette.

"What the heck!" Chat exploded at himself, as soon as they were out of earshot,"how could you do that to Mari?"

Adrien shot himself his award winning Chat grin.

"Don't get your tail in a twist Chat. I ended up with the girl of my dreams and Mari got her guy," Adrien said teasingly.

Chat felt his blood grow cold as his lungs simultaneously stopped. He was able to rasp a single word, "Luka?"

Adrien let out a laugh. "Please! I don't think a single friend of Juleka's could imagine dating him after what she did…"

Now Chat was intrigued. "Oh?"

Adrien made a glance to Ladybug who was busily chatting with Marinette. She stopped looking over to wrap her counterpart in a hug.

"Well, I shouldn't be telling you this… but I remember me telling me this when I was in your shoes… but Juleka freaked out when she realized her older brother was hitting on all her friends and that some actually found him attractive. So she told them a few dirty secrets about him- the worst being that he still sleeps with a guitar shaped night-light and that he regularly wets the bed."

Chat was doubled over laughing. He allowed himself a moment of mirth before making his serious decision.

A ways away, Marinette turned to Ladybug.

"So he knows?" She asked.

Ladybug smiled. "Who knows what?"

"Adrien knows your identity?!"

"Oh yeah, that happened years ago… actually it was the same day that we told each other 'I love you'."

Marinette felt tears pooling in her eyes.

"But I love Chat!" Marinette sobbed. Ladybug wrapped the girl-herself in a deep embrace.

"Trust me. Everything works out in the end. Chat knows our identity as well, and we make wonderful purrtners… I mean partners."

The group reconvened, and Chat made a suggestion.

"Hey, so we got hit by some bombshells in the room. Maybe Marinette and I could talk before we discuss everything?"

Ladybug and Adrien shook their heads. As their younger selves walked away, Adrien snickered.

"Isn't this the part where we come up with our 'brilliant plan'?" Adrien asked.

"Yup."

As the Chat and Marinette made it to the spot he had been earlier, Marinette cried,"We have to break them up!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

And then Chat realized, she wasn't just upset that Adrien was with someone else, she must have figured out he was Adrien.

"So I guess that means everyone knows about the secret identity thing," Chat sighed,"It's a relief to not have to dance around that elephant in the room."

Marinette froze… so Adrien must've told Chat her identity.

"Yeah, are you ok with that?" She asked, referring to her being Ladybug.

"Yeah," he responded curtly, thinking she had meant was he ok with her knowing his identity,"so anyhow, you mentioned breaking them up. I'm assuming we won't be able to change the past… so Adrien and LB are getting together no matter what."

Marinette nodded as the tears slowly faded. "So we have to break them up and set our future selves up with each other," she schemed.

"Time for operation: Future Breakup," Marinette said.

Chat nodded. "Definitely. I think the first thing we should do is find Future Chat and Future Mari. Once we can talk to them, we can know where to start."

"Good idea" agreed Marinette, "Only let's go talk to Ladybug and see if there are even still Akumas in the future. Maybe you've defeated Hawkmoth. Maybe you decided to study in another country and stay there. Maybe… Oh I don't know."

Chat looked at her confused. Hadn't she just said that she knew he was Adrien? He thought back over their conversation, and realized that she hadn't. He needed to talk to Ladybug to find out what she'd said to Marinette. Partner or not, if she'd said something to hurt her he would have to… well, he wasn't sure what he'd have to do, but it wouldn't be pretty! "Come on. I need to talk to Ladybug."

He stalked back to the Old-Selves, practically dragging Marinette behind him. He jabbed his finger towards his partner, or at least his future partner. "I need to talk to you." Ladybug just grinned at him and followed him to quieter area. Chat tried really hard not to notice how much more beautiful she had become over the intervening years. He knew that part of him would always love her… they were partners after all, but how could he do this to Mari?

Marinette was left with Adrien, but she didn't really want to look at him right now. A couple of months ago, before she'd started dating Chat, she would have been thrilled to know this was her future, but now, she felt like she was betraying her best friend, which, as she shot a look over to where Chat was disappearing with her older self, she was.

She glanced back at Adrien who was smiling down at her. "I want to apologize now for all the stupid things I've done, and all those that I am going to do." He said. "I was an idiot. I spent too long hung up on Ladybug to truly see the amazing girl under the suit. When I realized how I felt about Marinette, well, it was too late. You'd given up on me. If it helps, Chat is feeling the same way you are right now."

"How could he?" Marinette asked, close to tears. "I feel like I've betrayed my best friend. I HAVE betrayed my best friend."

Adrien looked at her. "I know it feels that way now, but you haven't. That much I can promise you."

Plagg took that moment to wake up. Hearing the voices of his chosen and and Marinette, he started talking before he emerged from Adrien's pocket. "Are you guys at it again? What did you do to upset her this time, idiot?"

Marinette just stood staring at the little kwami. "Plagg? What are… How is… but…" Then, looking up at Adrien, she said in a whisper, "_Chat?_"

Chat was whisper-shouting at Ladybug. "What did you tell her? She is so upset by this. What did you say to upset her?"

Ladybug tried to calm Chat down. "I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know. I don't know why you're so upset." Ladybug smiled at him, sympathetically. "I finally realized you were serious when you said you were in love with me. I'm sorry it took me so long." She placed a comforting hand on his arm, but Chat shook it off, still angry.

He opened his mouth to respond to Ladybug, when he heard a soft 'Chat' come from behind him. Old Adrien was close behind her, and had a comforting hand on her back. Marinette's face was pale, as if she'd had a shock, and then he saw who was sitting on her shoulder, munching on a slice of camembert, looking inordinately pleased with himself… Plagg.

Ladybug stepped forward. "Adrien? What did you do?"

Adrien threw up his hands. "It wasn't me. Plagg just popped out and started talking to her. I'm sorry, Lovebug, I just couldn't control him."

Ladybug made a face. "I still don't like that nickname." Shaking it off, she added, "There is one way to control him."

Adrien eyed Plagg, then broke into a grin. "Correct as always, My Love. Plagg, claws out!"

A green flash, and there were now two Chat Noirs standing in the sheltered clearing. The older one taller, muscular had an amused smile on his face. The younger one practically vibrated with anger. Plagg had just given away his identity, and his older self merely found this amusing. Maybe this is why Marinette left, he mused. She saw the kind of person he turned into.

Marinette, however, was smiling at him, nervously. She wrapped her arms around Chat and buried her head in his chest. Raising her head, she looked over at Ladybug and nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Chat caught a flash of pink as Ladybug detransformed. Stubbornly, he closed his eyes, and hid his face against Marinette's neck. Laughing and stroking his hair, Marinette said,"You should look, Kitty."

Squeezing Marinette's hand, he slowly turned around, opening his eyes, only to see Marinette. It was definitely her. Older, her hair flowed down past her shoulders in loose waves, but she had the same eyes, and was wearing the same smile that _his_ Marinette was wearing at that moment. Looking back and forth between the two, Young Chat turned to look at his girlfriend, as a small red and black creature phased out of her purse. "Hi, Chat Noir. I'm Tikki, Ladybug's kwami."

Both Chats pulled their Marinettes to them and kissed their foreheads. The Marinettes melted into their boyfriend or husband, as it turned out that the older couple were married, and living as Adrien and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, for reasons the older couple wouldn't share.

The younger Marinette pulled back, and looked at their older counterparts. "The big question remains… how do we get back?" Thinking for a moment, she asked, "Bunnix?"

"Bunnix." The older couple agreed. "Let's go find Alix."

The quartet… or duo… or… pair of pairs… the Marinettes quickly transformed in a covered alleyway, and the four heroes set out to find Alix, or rather to meet up with her.

"So how has Alix been the last few years?" Young Chat asked his counterpart.

"Chat!" Both Ladybugs growled, staring at their respective boys. Older Chat noticed younger Ladybug's scowl and turned to his youthful self.

"I forgot how she could be so intimidating already, anyhow I don't see the harm in telling you that part of the future. She's kinda got an on/off thing with Kim."

"I thought Kim and Ondine would get together," young Marinette sighed.

"Oh… yeah. That's also an on off thing. Try not to mention Ondine in front of her."

As the four heroes approached the apartment only to see a pair of orange clad teens waltz down the street. Each had light red hair and wore orange capri length jumpsuits with a white trim.

Each twin was holding a letter in one hand and a wand in the other.

"Is that four Miraculouses I see bro?" The first asked.

"I believe it is. Hawkmoth is gonna be twice as happy when we bring them all in!" His brother commented.

"Hi, we're Double Trouble! And we'll be taking your miraculouses now please," the twins said in eerie unison.

"Ew!" Young Marinette shrieked, simultaneously wrinkling her nose,"fashion in the future is absolutely disgusting! Those look like bad fashion hit prison outfits"

"Don't worry, everyone else agrees. It seems Aubrey Bourgeois has finally run out of ideas," her senior comforted.

As the heroes prepared, the twins pointed their wands at the Ladybugs, striking them both in the legs as they tried to jump out of the way.

Instantly each ladybug sprouted two extra legs.

"Darling, I know you can't dance but now I know why. You have two left feet," older Chat grinned as he sprinted away from a blast.

"M'lady, maybe this will help with your stumbling problem, with four feet, you're twice as sure footed," younger Chat teased, also dodging a beam meant for him.

"Eh, I'd give it a 4 out of 10. Good presentation, but not very punny," his elder critiqued.

Older Chat somersaulted past a beam and called his power. "Cataclysm!" he cried, gripping the paper, which turned out to be an envelope.

Younger Chat followed suit, destroying the other envelope. Two Akumas appeared, which the Ladybugs quickly cleansed. One miraculous Ladybug later, everyone was feeling better, and back to having two legs.

It turned out the twins had gotten accepted by different universities, ruining their plans for the future. After the heroes reminded them that they could still call and possibly transfer, the twins calmed down.

"Ok, now we can go see Alix and the kids," Ladybug said, knocking on the nearby door.

It creaked open, to reveal a small blond haired boy and an equally blonde girl, both with piercing blue eyes. A rather tall Alix stood next to them, smiling.

Alix let them in. "So, we have the past selves thing finally happen? I've been waiting for years," she complained.

"PAPA!" the little boy screamed, wrapping his arms around older Chat's legs. He couldn't have been more than 5 or 6, and it melted everyone's hearts.

The toddler girl smiled, and waved, pointing to the older Ladybug. "Manananan," she declared, then stared at the younger Ladybug,"Manananan."

"Yes, that's right my little bugaboo," the older heroine said, as her powers wore off,"I'm your Maman, and so is she."

The little boy turned to him mom. "So if she's you, does that mean that he's Papa?" He asked, pointing at young Adrien, who had also transformed back into his regular self.

"Yes Louis, that is also Papa. It's a little confusing, but it was another time travel Akuma situation. They'll… we'll have to deal with it when we go back in time 15 years."

Alix retrieved some treats for the famished Kwamis and the children began to run around the house, the novelty of having two sets of parents no longer interesting.

"Yeah. So do you think you could send them back to the park around the time they left?" Older Adrien asked.

Alix cracked her knuckles. "15 years? No problem." She called out her Kwami, and instantly transformed, opening up a portal in the process. She poked her head though and smiled.

"Right place at the right time," she replied.

Adrien and Marinette called out their transformations, and prepared to fight the Akuma on the other end of the portal.

They stepped through the portal, smiling and waving as they left themselves.

"I can't believe that's us Princess," Chat said as they exited, "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and our kids."


	13. Meeting Gabriel

**June 13: Meeting Gabriel**

_Author's Note (Chubby Unicorn Mama) I'm going to start this out with an apology. I couldn't figure out a way for MariChat to meet Gabriel… so it's LadyNoir instead. Have no fear, Marichat will be involved… but it will be mostly LadyNoir. _

_Ep: Does that mean I have to keep wearing these cat ears? I'm so confused._

_CM: Yes *Pats Ep on the head* You look adorable. _

_Ic: Who's a good kitty? *scratching Ep behind the ear* Now let me get you a treat you spoiler hating kitty._

**_WARNING! If you want to remain completely ignorant of things that happen in Season 3, please skip this chapter. Nothing is referenced, only vaguely hinted at, and even our season 3 virgin, Ep, has given this chapter his approval._**

* * *

Curled up together on her chaise, her fingers tangled in his hair, a purr rumbling from his chest, lay Marinette and Chat Noir. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, the patter of rain falling on the skylight leant a sleepy, peaceful feeling to the room's occupants. Scratching around his ears, Marinette asked Chat if he had plans for the upcoming school vacation. Having asked his age when they started dating, just to make sure he was the teenager she assumed him to be, she surmised they were close to the same grade in school, and would have the same vacation week, as all of Paris did.

Chat mumbled something noncommittal about being around, but his father having a project that Chat's civilian self was needed for, so he wouldn't truly be able to enjoy the free time. Marinette made sad, soothing noises, and continued to scratch with one hand, while setting the other against his cheek. "I'm sorry, Kitty. Your father works you too hard."

"It's alright, Princess, I'm used to it. Besides, there are big changes in his company. Ones that will cause him to be out of the country much of the time. This will be my last chance to spend time with him for the next several months." Chat said, eyes downcast, but soon they fluttered closed again, and the rumble in his chest resumed.

An notification on Marinette's phone chimed, alerting her to a new post on the Ladyblog. Opening it, she snapped to attention, practically dumping Chat on the floor. "You've got to go! Now! There's an akuma that's been spotted near the Eiffel Tower and Mayura!" By this point, Marinette was practically shoving Chat out of her room, so that she could transform and go join him.

Saluting her with two fingers, Chat leaped off of her balcony and sped his way towards the tower, to scout out what was happening. He was halfway there when his baton rang. Picking up, he heard Ladybug say, "Mayura has been spotted. I'm heading off to get backup. Don't get too close. I'm almost at Master Fu's. I'll meet you at the Trocadero." Chat agreed, and hung up, deciding that it might be better to do his scouting from a distance.

When he arrived, he looked around, and spotted someone he hadn't seen since Hero's Day. Hawkmoth. In person. He sent a message to Ladybug, adding that he was going to try and get closer, since he wanted to make sure it was real and not just one of Volpina's illusions… for she was the akuma that he spotted, skulking around the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Creeping as closely as he dared, Chat tossed a pebble at Hawkmoth's shoe. It hit. Hawkmoth remained, and by some kind of miracle, he didn't notice. Chat retreated to the Trocadero and called Ladybug. "Milady, it is Hawkmoth."

"Is now the time to recruit a new friend?" Ladybug wondered. "Just the one?"

"More hands can't hurt. Right now it looks like it is just Volpina, Mayura and Hawkmoth. I think the odds of another Heroes' Day are small."

"Alright, Chat. Rena and Carapace are headed your way. I'll get Queenie and Bunnix."

"I'll keep and eye on things here, and let you know if they change. I've got a pretty good view where I won't be spotted. And it is large enough that we'll all stay somewhat dry." Chat held his hand out of his shelter. It wasn't coming down hard, but the rain was relentless.

"See you soon, Chaton." Ladybug disconnected and made her way back to Master Fu's. Describing to him the situation, that Hawkmoth was out and about, as well as Mayura being accounted for, she felt safe in handing the Bee Miraculous over to Chloe, and she wanted to give Alix the Rabbit Miraculous for the first time. Her ability to create a time portal, even just once, could prove exceedingly helpful.

After dropping off Pollen with Chloe, and sending her off to meet up with the others, Ladybug headed to the Louvre to find Alix Kubdel. Alix was in a deserted "Archaeology Goes Graphic" exhibit, where the history of archaeology is shown in comic book form. Pulling Alix into an alcove, she held out the black octagonal box to her. "Alix Kubdel, this is the miraculous of the Rabbit, which grants the power of time manipulation. You will use it for the greater good."

Alix nodded eagerly, and opened the the box to reveal a pocket watch. Out of the watch, Fluff, the rabbit kwami of time emerged. The two greeted each other, and then Ladybug added, "Once the job is done, you must return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?"

Once again, Alix agreed, and then, holding out the pocket watch said, "Fluff, Clock Wind!" And with a flash of blue light, transformed into Bunnix.

As they ran towards the Trocadero to meet up with the others, Ladybug apprised Bunnix of the situation, and apologized to her that she would be learning on the fly. Bunnix waved it off saying that she was just excited to be part of the team.

Gathering together under the shelter that Chat had staked out, the six superheroes watched the three villains, as they, in turn, waited for Ladybug and Chat Noir to appear on the scene. While they watched, Ladybug laid out the plan. Rena and Queen Bee would take on Volpina, Rena matching her with the power of illusion, and Queen Bee would take the opportunity to freeze her. Carapace and Bunnix would team up against Mayura, Bunnix pulling her though a time portal, to where Carapace would be waiting to strip off her brooch. Ladybug and Chat Noir would take on Hawkmoth, Ladybug using her lucky charm as they got closer.

As they watched, Volpina separated herself from the other two, climbing higher on the tower. Queen Bee and Rena Rouge took off after her. When Volpina looked down to see who was following her, she saw only Queen Bee, Rena having hidden in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to cast the illusion that Chat Noir and Ladybug were waiting up higher for her. Volpina looked back up and froze, seeing that she was surrounded. Queen Bee took that moment to send out her spinning top, with a cry of 'Venom!' immobilizing Volpina, and allowing Rena to grab the fake fox miraculous necklace that she was wearing.

Rena through the necklace down to the ground at Ladybug's feet where it snapped, releasing the Akuma, which Ladybug quickly purified. However, all of Volpina's illusions dissipated, revealing that she had disguised Mayura as Hawkmoth and Hawkmoth as Mayura.

Mayura quickly stepped towards a distracted Ladybug, but Chat Noir struck her away with his baton. Carapace remained at a distance, and Bunnix took careful note of where he was standing. Running hard she slammed into the back of Mayura; the switch in location, and Mayura's focus on Ladybug's earrings making it easier for her to catch the villain unawares. Crying 'Rabbit Hole' and pointing her umbrella, she was able to shove Mayura through the portal, and follow her close behind. They flew out of another portal, Mayura face down on the ground, Bunnix riding on her back, and slid for several meters, coming to a halt in front of Carapace. Before she was able to rise, Bunnix slid down to Mayura's legs, as Carapace rolled the villain over, snatching her brooch and causing her to detransform.

Carapace gasped when he saw Nathalie Sancoeur appear in front of him, but tied her up, dragging her to a sheltered location, arriving at the same time as Queen Bee and Rena Rouge with Lila Rossi. Having yet to use his power, Carapace sent the three girls to recharge their kwamis in case they were needed for the showdown with Hawkmoth.

The girls returned, and the four superheroes, and two villains, watched the hand to hand combat between Hawkmoth, Chat Noir and Ladybug. Carapace mused to himself about Lila. Normally he didn't consider akuma victims villains, he, himself had been akumatized on multiple occasions, including once as Carapace, on Heroes' Day, the last time they'd fought Hawkmoth face to face, but Lila was something else. She seemed to be willing to be akumatized, whenever Hawkmoth needed help, and ever since her lies had been exposed to the school, she almost seemed to beg for the power. Her favorite seemed to be Volpina, but she'd also become Chameleon a few times, and Honesty twice.

The fight between the three was heating up. Chat Noir, being better at close combat, was in close, baton slamming against cane, in an turbocharged fencing match, while Ladybug had taken a few steps back to call upon here lucky charm. To her surprise an 8x10 framed photograph dropped down. The picture itself was in its original colors, only the frame was colored the traditional lucky charm red and black. Looking at it, she couldn't quite place the blonde haired, green eyed woman in the picture, but from the way he froze, she knew Hawkmoth could.

Against his will, the name 'Emilie' tore from his lips, just as Chat Noir took advantage of his distraction, and tore the butterfly brooch from Hawkmoth's neck. His back to Ladybug, he hadn't seen the item that had distracted hawkmoth, but now that he had the miraculous in hand, he turned to see the framed picture of his mother that Ladybug still held. He let out a gasp of shock, and spun back to Hawkmoth.

Ladybug's attention was still focused on Hawkmoth, who was now rapidly fading into Gabriel Agreste, and it was her turn to let out a gasp of shock as she recognized her friend Adrien's father standing before them. He took a step towards them, as Chat Noir took a step back, eyes wild and he tried to take the scene in. The police started to arrive on the scene, Alya having called them when she was feeding Trixx. They had already taken Nathalie and Lila into custody, although it was uncertain whether Lila could be tried with anything, since technically she had been a victim, rather than a villain, but the police weren't going to argue, when the usually calm Carapace demanded that they take her as well, the "for her own safety" being growled almost as an afterthought.

His miraculous gone, and unable to hide behind the mask of Hawkmoth any longer, Gabriel straightened his shoulder, and, always the epitome of manners, nodded his head at the pair standing before him. "Hello. I am Gabriel Agreste. Hand over your Miraculous."


	14. Pictures

**June 14: Pictures**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here and we're nearly halfway through trying to make you forget that even the possibility of Ladrien might exist. Interestingly, the pickets outside our window have thinned a bit, although I have to admit the pitchforks and torches were a bit scary._

_CM: Good thing we've still got snow round these parts. Puts the torches out pretty quick!_

_In today's edition: Leaving school one afternoon, Chat happens to notice Marinette accidentally leaving her phone behind. He quickly decides to be the good samaritan and provide special delivery services for his classmate… but then curiosity gets the better of him._

_I tried to create a portfolio containing sketches of the characters in _Miraculous_ to get us into ZagToons as animators. I showed a few to my partners and they claim stick figures won't cut it. Guess I won't need these crayons any longer._

_CM: I think it was the way you indiscriminately put polka dots on Ladybug, you gave her a black eye. _

_Ep: Wait, that one is Chat Noir. (shuffles paper) *This* one is Ladybug._

_Ic: (Staring at pigtails) Wait, are those two extra arms coming out of her head?_

* * *

The final bell rang for the day and I packed up my books from where I'd been studying in the library. It was the rare afternoon that I had no modelling engagements, language lessons or fencing practice and was looking forward to a few hours of uninterrupted video gaming. I had time to kill before meeting up with Ladybug for our nightly patrol, and with even my homework caught up, it was a pleasant feeling knowing I could relax for a bit, barring an akuma of course.

I'd been alone, having tactically positioned myself away from Chloe and her posse. Nino had been working in the audio lab, which had let me fly solo, although Marinette had been two tables away from me with Alya. The duo had more or less spent the entire time glancing furtively at me. I was used to it - my image was plastered all over Paris, after all.

They packed up quickly and hustled past me toward the door. I'd started to say something but it died on my lips as I watched them escape like the room was on fire. That was a bit odd, and I shook my head as I moved to follow them. But as I came around my table, I saw a something catch the light from the one they had been at.

I turned and walked over to discover Marinette's cell phone sitting there. Horrified, I picked it up and ran from the room, pausing at the railing outside the door to search for her. They had to have moved fast, for they were already in the courtyard and nearly out the big double doors. For a brief moment, I considered transforming to Chat Noir and leaping over the railing; I nearly instantly decided against it. Explaining how Chat had happened to be in the library that afternoon would have re_purr_cussions I didn't want to deal with.

Instead, I rushed down the steps, one flight at a time, and dashed across the courtyard. Bursting onto the street, I watched as Marinette's head disappeared into the Metro stop across from the school. If she got on a train, I'd never catch her. I rounded the building to the alley beside the school, calling out "Plagg - claws out!" while I was on the run. The green wave of transformation washed over me and I rebounded off the wall of the school and into the air, vaulted over the traffic with my baton, and dropped cleanly down into the Metro station.

The platform was crowded, so I leapt up to the lights hanging from the ceiling, scanning the crowd with my enhanced feline vision. I'd recently realized Marinette had a particular scent as well, and sniffed for her telltale vanilla, sugar and exotic spices. I caught her at the last minute, just as she and Alya entered the express train for Trocadero.

The doors slid shut and the train pulled away before I'd even made the decision to let it go. I knew where they would be, so I dropped to the floor and worked my way through the crowd toward the exit. Once more I was amazed at how normal Parisians found a cat-themed superhero roaming the streets of the city.

Returning to the rooftops of the city, I made my way through the sky toward the massive park, and ensconced myself on a rooftop that gave me both an expansive view of the esplanade and the Eiffel Tower beyond. As fast as the express train was, I was reasonably certain I'd beaten them to the area, and began scanning the space looking for the telltale pigtails of my classmate.

As I did so, her phone buzzed from where I had stored it in my costume pocket. It startled me, but I pulled it out to see if she'd called herself. She hadn't. It was a notification from the Ladyblog that her photo upload was complete.

_What?_

I turned the phone around in my paws and was certain it was Marinette's, not Alya's. It buzzed again in my paw; within a few minutes, ten different notifications had come through. My masked eyebrows shot up, my primary mission now forgotten. What would Marinette be sharing with the Ladyblog?

Trying to open the phone, I found it was locked with a passcode. That wasn't surprising, of course, and normally that would be the end of it. But my curiosity had been piqued. As unprepossessing as Marinette was, she'd be the last person I'd suspect of feeding the Ladyblog anything. But more importantly, what would she have sent them?

_Was I seriously considering hacking a classmates phone?_ I thought.

A mental image of Plagg solemnly nodding appeared to me. _Yes, _the image said.

_Great, now I'm hallucinating my kwami._

I turned the phone around again in my paws, and found it was one of the models with external SD storage. I tapped a claw against it and managed to cleanly pop it out into my paw. Before I could counsel myself against it, I'd snapped open my baton and inserted the memory card into it. A moment later, hundreds of photos appeared on my tiny screen.

Quite a few were of Adrien, which wasn't much of a surprise. Her lock screen was me (as Adrien) and it was a thinly veiled secret how she felt about my alter ego. But as I continued flipping through the photos, the vast majority were of Chat Noir. From the angles, too, she'd been relatively close to me - these were not the wide angle shots from the news outlets. I had no idea she was a groupie, but clearly, she'd been almost everywhere Chat had been over the past couple of months.

I recognized more than one from my own perusal of the Ladyblog, somewhat confirming that Marinette had indeed been feeding it material. I found myself both flattered and somewhat freaked out.

_It's always the quiet ones!_

A commotion down on the esplanade returned my attention to the plaza, and I caught the pigtails of Marinette in the late afternoon sun. Hurriedly, I snapped the card back into her phone, recomposed myself, and vaulted off the roof toward them. I landed in a crouch close to where Marinette and Alya had stopped, and stood to walk over, not entirely certain how to handle the situation.

"Chat?" Alya said, as she was the first to spot my feline ears heading their way.

"Afternoon, ladies," I said with a standard Chat smile on my face. I turned to Marinette and unzipped my pocket. "I believe this is yours," I added, handing her the phone.

"Where-?" she spluttered as she took it from my paw.

"Library," I fumbled a bit, then corrected. "Someone found it in the library, and they tried to stop you before you left. I happened to be passing by and agreed to track you down."

"Oh thank God," she breathed, and hugged me unexpectedly.

"It's my fault," Alya said. "I'd borrowed it to upload some photos to my blog - my phone died and it needs to be recharged. Marinette has one with an external SD port and offered me hers."

"Photos?" I squeeked, suddenly realizing I had made a whole series of conclusions based on very sketchy evidence. "Ah, what sort of photos?"

Alya smiled. "Well, it _is _the Ladyblog," she smirked, and turned toward Marinette. "Actually, my girl here had a few exceptional shots of you action that she was about to give me."

My head was now spinning as I turned back to Marinette. "Of me?"

Marinette was blushing a dark crimson. "Uh, well, I, uh…"

"Oh stop," Alya said. "Just tell him." Exasperated, Alya turned toward me. "She's got a thing for you and won't admit it."

"I do _not!_" Marinette cried, blush turning deeper.

Momentarily forgetting my persona, I asked: "I thought it was Adrien-"

"Yesterday's news," Alya said, winking.

_Oh. My. God._ In that moment, I knew _exactly _who had left the phone behind. And that she'd known, somehow, that Chat Noir would return it.

"Hey, look at the time!" Ayla suddenly said, deciding her mission had been accomplished. "Bye!" she waved as she hurried away from us.

I turned back to Marinette, who had an expression mixed of both anger with her friend and deep embarrassment. I smiled gently. "Well," I said. "This has been an interesting afternoon."

"Yeah," she agreed.

We stared at each other for an uncomfortable moment.

"Photos?" I asked.

"Yeah." She looked up at me. "Sorry about all of this. She's been trying to figure out a way to have us meet up."

My eyes widened. "We've _already _met," I reminded her. "We even had that nice chat on your balcony a while ago - just before the ice cream guy tried to melt you."

If it was possible, her face got even darker. "I, uh, never told anyone about that."

I could see that was true, but in that same moment, knew she'd been wishing I'd visit again.

_Where's the harm in that?_ I found myself wondering. _It's not like Ladybug is pining away for me._

"Look, I need to take off," I started. "But would you mind if I swung by your place later? I could use a friendly ear for a bit." I paused. "If that's okay."

She smiled at me. "I'd like that. Sure."

I smiled back, genuinely this time. "All right! See you later."

Vaulting away from her and into the sky, I wondered a bit at the avenue I had started down. I didn't have a lot of experience in love, but something about Marinette was tugging at my heart in a way that I'd not felt before. I found myself suddenly determined to see where this particular journey might end.


	15. Dinner

**June 15: Dinner**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. CM did a fantastic chapter back during MariChatMay that rounded out our mini-trilogy of Chat learning how to cook - and discovering what family really means. I've encouraged her to revisit that with another round at the Dupain-Cheng dining room table - with a little extra seasoning provided by yours truly. We promise no WereDad hijinks (which is easy, since I've not yet seen that episode)._

_By the way, we've put in for the exclusive rights to air _Miraculous_on the planet Vulcan. Once the good folks at Zagtoons stopped laughing, they said they'd get back to us. Oddly they didn't ask for our contact information._

_Ep: CM, why is Ic over there in the corner, mumbling to himself?_

_CM: He told me the voices in his head give him the best story ideas. He's probably being inspired._

_Ep: Uh, CM, why is his head rotating like that?_

_CM: He's _really_inspired. *moves plate* but… I wouldn't eat those cookies… just to be safe. _

_Ic: Hehehe. Of course Chat, I promise I'll keep you safe in all the stories, after all, you are my favorite. No, Mari I didn't mean it like that! I love all of you equally. Hehehe._

* * *

Perched on a rooftop several blocks away from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, Chat Noir popped open his baton and reversed the camera, making the unusual effort to try and tame his unruly mane. He'd been invited back to have dinner with Marinette and her family, and after how well the first one had gone, Chat didn't want to take any chances at ruining his ability to _continue_to be invited back - should the occasion arise.

As he snapped the baton closed and slid it behind his back, he mused about how his relationship with Marinette had blossomed over the past few months. Chat was a nightly visitor to the Bakery - at least, as nightly as he could be, when not interrupted by one of Hawkmoth's akuma attacks - and the time he spent with his girlfriend had completely reshaped his view on love and family.

That first dinner had been the coda on a perfect voyage of discovery. It had been unlike anything he'd shared with his Father, although he had some dim memories of a time before his mother disappeared that had some of the same feeling to it. Thinking of his still-missing mother made him a bit melancholy, causing him to shake his mane to clear his head (and thus undoing all of his efforts in the process).

Chat leapt to the edge of the brickwork ringing this particular rooftop and took a moment take in the view, then vaulted out into the late afternoon sky. It didn't take long for him to land with a rubbery _thump!_atop the Bakery's rooftop patio. Staying in his cat crouch, he scratched lightly on the skylight to let Marinette know he was there, though he suspected she'd probably heard him land.

She popped open the portal and greeted him with a warm smile and those dazzling blue eyes. "Hey, kitty," she said fondly. "Hungry?"

A million different responses to that question hit him at once, but he settled for one: "Pawsitively, Princess. May I come in?"

Marinette looked up at him, a completely deadpan look on her face. "Nope." She said and closed the skylight.

Chat Noir reeled back, completely gobsmacked for a moment, before the door opened back up to a laughing Marinette, who said, "Of course you can come in!" And stepped out of the way so that he could enter.

Chat entered nervously, but at Marinette's huge grin and welcoming kiss, he realized that she'd just been pulling his tail. He started to smirk, and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, trapping her hands between his chest and hers. He then ran the edge of one claw down her side. When she tried to squirm away, he did it again, pinning her to him as she tried to wrench herself away from his tickling fingers.

When he stopped, the pair were breathless with laughter. Marinette stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again, before taking his hand and ushering him downstairs. As they descended, a delicious smell tickled Chat's nose, beef, basil and garlic, along with the warmer tones of fresh baked bread, that always clung to the bakery. His mouth already watering, he greeted the older Dupain-Chengs, and was drawn into hugs from both of them, something that always made Chat's heart soar.

Sabine asked the teens if they would set the table, and both were happy to comply, carrying over silverware and plates, a bowl of salad and a basket of fresh dinner rolls, as Tom brought the meat over to the table. After everyone had served themselves, they started talking, chatting about recent akumas, some of the new recipes that Tom had been trying out, and Marinette's friends at school.

Suddenly Tom turned to Chat. "I'm sorry son, but I do need to ask this, I'm not trying to figure out who you are, but as a father protecting his daughter, how old are you? Marinette's only 14, and I'm hoping that you aren't too much older."

"No sir!" Answered Chat, feeling the need to return to formality. "I'm in the last year of College, same as Marinette."

Tom smiled at Chat. "Indeed? Are you in the same school as Marinette, then?"

Flushing a bit, Chat wondered how to reply. He hesitated to lie, since his past experience had proven not only was he really bad at it, they tended to come back and haunt him later. But in this case, answering truthfully, and within earshot of Marinette, could present a wider problem. He knew her well enough that any tidbit of information about his secret identity would lead to her starting to look for more. He split the difference. "I know many of the students at Dupont," he answered.

"Ah," Tom said, as if that had explained anything at all. "Lots of other students?"

"No," Chat replied honestly. "Marinette is one of a small handful of people I know as Chat; the Ladyblogger, Alya, is another." He hesitated, wondering if he was opening a can of worms, but plowed on. "I'm also acquainted with her classmate, Adrien."

Chat saw Sabine choke slightly. "Adrien? Agreste?" she rasped, darting a glance at her daughter.

"Yeah," he said, quickly grabbing a roll and tearing it apart. "Ladybug and I have saved quite a few Parisians, and Adrien was one of them." Chat munched for a moment. "He's… kind of alone, so I check on him from time to time."

He could feel Marinette's eyes boring into him, so he avoided her for a moment and turned fully toward Tom. "These rolls are amazing," he said, a poor attempt to shift the direction of the conversation.

Tom wasn't having any of it. "What else does the costume do?"

Chat fought back an urge to bolt for the window and find the first handy akuma. A cat stuck in a tree would have also been deemed an emergency at this point, too. Or a bird.

_Yes,_he thought to himself. _I'd fling myself into the sky to save a bird right about now._

He should have anticipated the traditional parental grilling, since he was now openly seeing their daughter; the first dinner had lulled him into a bit of false security. At least they'd invited him to dinner. Chat knew how much more uncomfortable it would have been with the four of them out there in the living room, staring at each other.

"It protects me," Chat replied carefully, wondering how much he should divulge. "For the most part, I can't really be hurt while I'm transformed."

"Transformed?" Tom frowned.

_Oh boy._ Chat laughed self consciously. "Well, I can't hang around school as Chat all day, now can I?"

"I suppose not," Tom said, nodding. "But when you say 'transformed'…"

Chat quickly shoveled some of the delicious beef into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, giving himself some time to come up with a non-technical answer. "Well," he said at length, "each Miraculous holder has the ability to… channel special energy when needed. But to do so, we have to 'transform' ourselves to be able to wield that power."

"And that's where the costume comes in?" Tom asked.

"In a way. It's part of the enhancements the Miraculous provides, among other things." Chat paused and added, quietly: "Like protecting my identity."

_That _made Tom smile. "More potatoes?"

"Thanks," Chat said, taking the serving dish.

"Are those ears real?"

"It's hard to explain," Chat said as he made space on his plate and spooned some potato onto it. "I have better hearing - well, better senses all around - as Chat, and I can definitely tell the difference between when these babies are present -" he pointed a claw at one of the feline ears atop his blond mane "-and when they are gone."

"All senses?" This intrigued Sabine and drew her back into the conversation. Marinette was paying close attention as well.

"Yes," Chat replied, suddenly feeling even more self conscious. A slight flush started to creep up from his neck.

Marinette seemed to sense her boyfriend's discomfort and managed to steer the conversation into safer waters; by the time they'd cleared the dishes and reset for a surprise dessert from Tom, Chat had regained his composure and looked once more like a normal, happy teen - albeit one clad in a cat-themed superhero costume.

As Tom disappeared to the Bakery, and Sabine cleaned up in the kitchen, Chat found himself alone for the moment with Marinette. "So, Purrincess," he asked, the note of concern in his voice matching the slightly panicked look in his eyes, "am I passing the test?"

Glancing around to make sure her parents weren't present, Marinette reached up to scratch behind Chat's kitty ears. "You are doing purrfectly. If you point out to Papa that there's no zipper in your suit, he'd probably let you move in!" Marinette laughed to see her brash kitty turn as red as Ladybug's suit. Rubbing the tip of one ear between two fingers to set him purring, she watched his blush fade as his happiness increased.

Tom came in with the dessert, a charlotte au citron. Marinette grinned. "Is that why you had me make extra ladyfingers this morning, Papa?" she asked, as she eyed one of her favorites.

Tom laughed. "I know Chat Noir has a penchant for Belgian chocolate, but as we are in France right now, we had to go with the lemon version." Turning to their guest, he asked, "How do you like it, son?"

Chat Noir beamed at the nickname, his eyes huge, both from the gateau and the endearment. "I think it is the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen," he replied enthusiastically.

Quirking an eyebrow and letting out a hearty guffaw, Tom asked, "Only the second most beautiful?"

"Of course!" Responded Chat. "Nothing could be more beautiful than Marinette." Both of her parents cooed in delight, as Marinette turned as red as Chat had earlier. She beamed up at her boyfriend, her gaze soft, and the rest of the world receded, until Tom cleared his throat, and both teens flushed again.

Sabine smiled angelically. "It looks like the dessert is not the only sweet thing at this table!" Tom snorted in response, Marinette was turning shades of red she hadn't reached in a long time, while Chat was trying his best to melt into his chair. When that didn't work, he popped up and offered to help Sabine serve the after-dinner coffee.

The conversation was light, with Sabine ultimately nudging Tom and declaring it was beyond time for them to head to bed. "Baker's hours, dear," she smiled, though as she hustled her husband from the room, her wink to Chat spoke more to her desire that the teens have some time together. "It was a pleasure having you over for dinner again, Chat," she added as she left. "Know that you have a standing invitation to drop in every Sunday, if you're available."

Chat's eyes lit up with joy. "Really?" He looked to Marinette, who was nodding as she smiled. "Of course! I would love to be here. Thank you, Madame."

"It's Sabine. And goodnight, dear," she said, and at last Chat was alone with his princess.

They wasted little time taking their coffee and the carafe Sabine had left behind to the rooftop patio. Marinette settled in on her chaise, but somewhat unexpectedly, Chat eschewed his usual perch atop the flower pot and instead asked if he could join her on the chair.

Smiling, she slid over for him. "Absolutely, kitty."

Chat folded himself in next to her, and coiled around her, cat-like, while still managing to keep a paw free for his coffee. Marinette pressed her head against his chest, and slowly sipped her hot beverage while hearing - and feeling - Chat's contented purring. Between the good food, the warmth of his body and the rhythmic sounds of his purr, she found herself dangerously close to nodding off.

Chat's voice cut through her drowsiness. "I am the luckiest cat in the world," he said, nearly so soft she'd almost not heard it.

She cracked open an eye. Looking up at Chat's masked face, she saw his wide green eyes were glistening. "No, Chat," she said, reaching up and pulling his face closer. "I am the luckiest, most fortunate girl in the galaxy." She quickly kissed him before he could react, and then added, "And don't you forget it."

"Of course, Purrincess," he said, snuggling his face back into her hair. "I wouldn't presume to contradict you."


	16. Blush

**June 16: Blush**

_Chubby Unicorn Mama here. I'm blushing to admit that this story is mine. I'd give the usual disclaimer that we don't own the rights to Miraculous, but I still have all this hidden camera footage to go through. (Thanks boys for putting those up…) to see if I can find something embarrassing to blackmail Astruc and Co. with… _

_Ep: No worries, CM. I shredded the receipts; thank goodness Ic let us use his credit card._

* * *

Ladybug was DONE with the flirting. Chat Noir just didn't know when to quit. He flirted non-stop during akuma attacks, and when he visited her as Marinette, it was the same thing. She knew that he didn't mean it towards either of them, but no matter how many times she told him to stop, he just couldn't seem to give it up. She had noticed, though, that he became flustered very quickly when the tables were turned. That was the beginning of Marinette's great idea.

The next evening, Chat Noir stopped by to visit Marinette. He stopped by often enough these days, when he was feeling lonely, or jubilant, bored or full of energy; pretty much all the time. They were close; good friends, she was one of the few he had. He might not have any others as Chat Noir, and she got the feeling he didn't have many people in his civilian life, either. When she heard the thump of paws on the roof, her grin grew as she put her plan into motion. The knock came on her skylight as expected, Marinette called out "Come in, Hot Stuff!"

There was a choking sound, and Chat tumbled gracelessly through the skylight onto her bed. She waggled her eyebrows at him, smirking as he flushed bright red. "What's wrong, Minou?" she purred.

His green eyes grew even wider, "A-are you a-alright, Marinette?"

She smiled radiantly, "Of course I am. Are you alright? You seem a little tense."

Chat looked at her, his tail swishing, "What was that all about?"

Marinette's blue eyes widened innocently, "What was what about, Chat? Are you sure you're alright?" She smiled up at him, simpering in a way reminiscent of the first time he'd met her; back when he thought she'd been genuine in her admiration.

The rest of Chat's visit was completely normal, and he soon fell back into an easy pattern with ut Marinette had been her. He'd shaken the greeting off as an oddity, and was getting ready to leave, when Marinette leaned in close, and with a lift of her eyebrows whispered into his ear, "See you soon."

A few days later found Chat back on her balcony. At his knock, Marinette called "Come in!" She smiled at him when he landed on the floor. Taking a step towards him, she lay a hand on his forearm. Widening her eyes, she teased "Have you been sleeping in the sun again? Because you are hot!"

Her grin widened as the blush crept up his neck. "Really. It feels like you've been baking in the oven!" Her predatory smile turned innocent. "What did you think I meant?" When he started spluttering, she asked, "Are you alright? Do you need a glass of milk?"

He nodded, and when he was calm, Marinette added, "I was afraid we'd both need medical help. You from this summer cold, and me because you take my breath away."

Her smirk grew in proportion to the deepening red of his face. He looked at her wild eyed, and leaped up and out of her skylight, casting a slightly crazed look behind him, before running off into the night.

The next day, in class, Alya was showing Marinette the pictures she had taken of Chat Noir the previous night, as he had been exuberantly showing off, leaping and flipping from rooftop to rooftop. Even though her kitty wasn't there, Marinette felt the need to thoroughly compliment his form. Neither girl noticed the blush creeping up the neck of the blonde boy sitting in front of them, listening to every word.

Adrien was used to people making comments on his appearance. He was used to being judged based on his looks, rather than who he was as a person, and usually he could just ignore it, but this time, it was Marinette. His friend. Someone who truly saw him, both sides of him. But she was acting weird the past few nights, and now this. True, most of what she'd said was about his athletic prowess as Chat, something he was a little proud of, himself, but when she mentioned his tail, Adrien was certain she had not been referring to his belt.

Alya, however, was highly entertained by Marinette's antics. Knowing her friend had a habit of speaking without thinking when she was tired, she took advantage of this, and pressed her friend for more details about Paris' feline superhero.

Marinette smiled at her, a smile that spoke of trouble and answered her questions about having a crush on Chat Noir. "Of course! I'd spend all of his 9 lives with him." After a pause, she looked questioningly at Alya. "Do you think if I told him he had nice fur he'd rub it against me?"

By this point, Adrien's face was almost purple, and he had sunk down very low in his seat, although still, nobody was looking at him. Feeling Plagg guffawing in his pocket had him jumping out of his seat and running for the bathroom, face on fire.

When Adrien jumped up, everyone in the room turned to look at him, and confused looks followed him. Looking at Alya then at Nino, who shrugged, Marinette got up to follow her friend, to make sure he was alright.

As she approached the locker room, she heard Adrien's voice. Her footsteps slowed, and she was able to make out the words. "Plagg, I don't know what to do. Marinette is acting so strangely, both the past few nights, and again today. I don't know what to think."

Marinette heard another voice, one that she recognized, but not in relation to Adrien. "Look, Kid. You've been flirting with her since the day you met. Not as Adrien, of course, how long did you think it was going to take before she turned the tables on you?"

"That's what this is about?" Adrien asked, incredulously, "She's getting revenge on me? Just because Chat's a little more expressive with his emotions…" He trailed off, and Plagg hid as the door to the locker room opened. Marinette stepped inside, and Adrien blushed, just seeing her, a reaction to the fact that he'd just been talking about her.

"Are you alright?" she asked, shaking only slightly at the information she had just heard. "You ran out of class, and I wanted to check on you."

"I'm alright." Adrien replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I was, uh, just thinking about some things that someone said to me, and I was bothered by it. It keeps coming back to haunt me. And then I overheard someone saying something that I didn't expect, and it reminded me of everything."

"Yeah, seems to be going around." Marinette muttered. Adrien's eyes snapped up to hers, wide and wild. "Plagg, you can come out."

"Hey Pigtails, good to see you again."

Adrien's head was swiveling between Marinette and Plagg."Again? Wait, what? What is going on here?"

Plagg and Marinette looked at each other, before Marinette looked back to Adrien. "Want to go to my house? We need to talk. And, Kitty? It might be best if my parents didn't see us arriving, can you take us?"

Adrien's head was spinning. What was going on here. It was obvious that she'd figured out that he was Chat Noir, but hearing him talk to Plagg shouldn't have given him away… most people didn't know about the existence of kwamis, but she had taken it all in stride. Better than he was, in fact. How did Marinette know Plagg, had they met before? When he'd fallen asleep at her house, maybe?

Marinette was not nearly as collected as she seemed. _Adrien_ was Chat Noir. He had been flirting with her this whole time, and the past few days, she had been flirting back! Now it was Marinette's turn to flush bright red. She and Adrien headed to the back of the locker room, and he was fiddling with his ring the whole time. Of course! How could she never have noticed the ring?

Adrien threw her a couple of nervous glances at Marinette, before calling for his transformation. As he picked her up to swing out of the back window, Marinette blushed, realizing that she was snuggled up against Adrien.

He landed them on her balcony, and she beckoned him inside. When they sat, she turned to him. "I'm so sorry kitty. I didn't mean to find out. I-I was just trying to get back at you for the constant flirting. Do you even realize that you're doing it? You really have the worst timing! Seriously, Kitty, do you really think in the middle of an akuma attack is the best time to ask me to the movies?"

Her voice had been rising throughout her little statement, and was breathing hard by the end of it. She froze, realizing everything she had just said, and implied, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. Chat was staring at her, mouth hanging open. Things were finally making sense in his brain. He reached out towards her, his hand freezing halfway. "Mi-milady?"

Marinette smiled at him, "Yes, Kitty. Come on out, Tikki."

The two smiled at each other, and, like magnets, were drawn together. Reaching out towards each other, they both had a gentle blush on their cheeks.


	17. Aspik

**June 17: Aspik**

_Chubby Unicorn Mama: Well, I spent hours upon hours of research on this chapter. _

_Ep: *raises eyebrows*_

_CM: Alright. I spent hours listening to the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra and calling it research. (Yes, it's a real thing, and you should check them out. My favorite songs of theirs are _The Good, The Bad and the Ugly_ and _Shaft_)_

_We don't own the rights to Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but we have all bought Ukuleles and have been practicing to serenade Thomas Astruc and Co. in an attempt to hypnotize them into giving us the rights. You have been practicing, right guys?_

_Ep: Yep. I've got the theme to _Miraculous _pretty much down._

_Ic: *plays horribly off key* Yeah… practicing….right._

* * *

"Adrien Agreste, this is the Miraculous of the Snake. It grants the power of hypnosis. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return it to me. Do you understand?" Ladybug held out the hexagonal box to Adrien, who was looking at her, dumbfounded.

Holding up his hands in front of him, Adrien said, "I-I can't accept that. I really can't leave the house. I'm sorry to let you down Ladybug, but I can't have the snake miraculous."

"Come try it, Adrien, please. You're strong and brave, thoughtful and kind. You'd make a great addition to our team. I promise we wouldn't call on you unless we really needed you. Paris needs your help. I need your help."

Ladybug looked pleadingly at Adrien, and he knew he couldn't turn her down. He would figure something out, but he would find a way to wield both The snake and the cat miraculous. In fact, he was due to visit Master Fu again, soon. He could ask then. But for now… "Alright, Ladybug, I won't let you down. I accept the snake miraculous."

Adrien took the hexagonal box from Ladybug and opened it. Out flew Sass who greeted Adrien calmly. Unlike Plagg, Sass was a very responsible kwami who took life very seriously. He explained to Adrien the basics of the miraculous, how to transform, what to expect when he was transformed, as well as how to use his power, and the consequences that would come afterwards.

Chat Noir and Ladybug had been talking about it for a while now. They had 3 solid allies that they could trust, but they wanted more. Queen Bee was hard to call on. Not for any reason, other than her identity was known, and they feared for her safety. They thought it would be good to have several people they could call on, and if they could give them a little introductory training ahead of time, so much the better. Ladybug had taken their idea to Master Fu. He hadn't talked to Ladybug in a few days, but it definitely appeared that Master Fu had given his approval. Which was good. He knew he wanted to offer the mouse miraculous to Marinette.

Ladybug explained that he would get 3 days to get to know and train with his new Kwami. Ladybug or Chat Noir would meet with him each of the days in the evening to have him get used to the physical aspects of being a superhero. She suggested they go out for a trial run then, and Adrien agreed. He said "Sass, let's slither" and, in a flash of cyan light, became Aspik.

Ladybug grinned up at him, as the new wielder of the Snake Miraculous struck a pose. "Do you have a name picked out for yourself?"

"Aspik" he answered immediately. His senses were heightened in this suit. The full head covering was different, he loved the feel of the breeze in his hair, and that just wasn't happening with Aspik's costume, but it made him look different enough from Chat Noir, that Ladybug shouldn't suspect anything. His hearing was better than it was as Adrien but not as good as Chat Noir, but tones sounded richer, easier to distinguish from each other. Everything sounded like a song, from the wind blowing across the rooftops to the beat of Ladybug's heart. The pair spent a few hours that night running around the rooftops, practicing moves, and hand to hand fighting. Adrien found himself tiring much quicker as Aspik than he did as Chat, and wondered if it was because the miraculous was less powerful, or he just wasn't as used to it yet. Either way, he found himself to be seriously tiring after an hour and a half, and when Ladybug took him home just past the two hour mark, all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

There was one thing he had to do, after Ladybug left him, promising that Chat would be by the next night, and she would return the night after. Adrien laughed to himself when she promised him Chat would be by, and hoped that Ladybug would not be out watching for the two of them the next night. When she was gone, Adrien turned to Sass, who had just finished eating a bowl of cherry tomatoes, his favorite food. "There is someone I should introduce you to, before we go any further."

Sass looked at him solemnly. "You should not introduce me to anyone. I must remain a secret."

Adrien chuckled at him, and said, "This is someone you probably know already, you just don't know that he is here." He turned to the bed where he'd seen Plagg go with a slice of camembert. "Plagg, come on out and say hello to Sass."

When Plagg emerged, Sass looked a little stricken. "Yeah. The kid's Chat Noir. We're going to have to go and talk with Fu, because this is a tough situation." Plagg said before tossing back another piece of cheese.

Sass agreed. "While holding, and even combining two miraculouses, with the exception of The Black Cat and the Ladybug, of course, is perfectly safe, this is probably not what Master Fu had in mind when he asked Ladybug to hand out another miraculous."

After checking to make sure both kwamis were behaving themselves, not that he was terribly worried about Sass, who seemed like a calm and responsible kwami, Adrien turned off his lights and tucked himself into bed.

The next day, his schedule was very light, both because it was a weekend, and because his father was away. He took the opportunity to transform into Aspik, and practice with his weapon: a lyre. Adrien was not good with stringed instruments. While he could play the piano well, thanks to years of practice, he wasn't terribly musically inclined, and the hypnotism aspect of his weapon depended upon melodies being played. Rena Rouge had once told him that she's never played an instrument before being handed her flute, and some of it came naturally, based on channelling her thoughts through the instrument, Aspik felt it would behoove him to practice with someone who truly knew music.

That is how Adrien found himself, clothed in the suit of the snake miraculous, knocking on the door of the Couffaine family's houseboat. He was met by Luka, who took it in stride that a superhero was knocking on his door, seeking musical instruction. After examining the lyre, and hearing about its powers of hypnosis, both boys felt that it would be more practical to learn on an instrument that did not have the power of suggestion. As the lyre had four strings, Luka grabbed another four stringed instrument, the ukulele, for each of them to practice on. Knowing the basics of music, the beginning was fairly simple, Aspik worked hard on the fingerings, but Luka was focused more of the flow and the musicality of what was being played.

After a couple of hours, where he was having Aspik play a tune, and trying to guess what emotion he was trying to express, both boys jumped, when the tune and guess were met with a round of applause. Marinette was smiling at them, and clapping her hands. "I am so sorry to interrupt! Luka, I just got Juleka's measurements for the new Kitty Section costumes, do you mind if I grab a couple from you, as well?" Turning to the boy who should be a complete unknown to her she smiled. "Hi! I'm Marinette. Are you joining the band?"

Aspik blushed slightly, and returned her greeting. "No. I'm Aspik. Ladybug invited me to join with them, and I'm trying to get a handle on my weapon." He gestured at the lyre. "I'm not playing it right now, because I don't actually wish to hypnotize anyone, so we've been practicing on these." At this, he held up the ukulele.

"That sounds amazing!" Cooed Marinette. "Let me just get Luka's measurements for the new costumes I'm designing, and I would love to hear you guys play something!"

Business out of the way, the three sat down to play. Luka started out by playing _The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. _When he was done, Marinette applauded, and turned to Aspik, an anticipatory smile on her lips. Aspik followed with a decent rendition of the _William Tell Overture_. Marinette clapped just as much for him, when Luka started playing _The Devil Went Down to Georgia._ Aspik joined in, as Marinette clapped and laughed along with them.

When the song was over, Marinette stood and said that she was heading out. Aspik offered to walk her out, as he needed to be going, too. He turned to thank Luka for everything. Luka waved it off stating that it wasn't every day he got to help out a superhero.

Two evenings later, Aspik and Ladybug were out for their final run together. Adrien had been thinking over the past few days, and after talking with Master Fu, he knew what he needed to do. Before he detransformed, he took Ladybug's hand. "I really appreciate the faith that you have placed in me, Ladybug, but I cannot accept the responsibility of the Snake Miraculous. I am sorry to let you down, but I feel that Luka Couffaine would be a good person to approach. He would fit well with Sass, and has the musical skills that suit the weapon."

Ladybug held his gaze for a long moment. "If that is how you truly feel, I respect your wishes. Thank you for trying." She leaned forward and pecked Aspik on the cheek. "I will take the miraculous back, and think over your recommendation." With that, they returned to Adrien's room, and he said the words "Sass, slither away" for the last time.

When he had appeared after the flash of cyan light, and Sass flashed back into view, Adrien removed the bangle from his wrist and handed it to Ladybug. With a nod and a wave, she headed back out into the night.


	18. Trust

**June 18: Trust**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. Would you look at that! We're more than halfway through our counterprogramming and we're still standing. This chapter is one that all three of us worked on, so spread the blame equally._

_After a third evening where Ladybug cancels their nightly patrol without explanation, Chat begins to wonder if he's done something wrong - but Ladybug is not willing to talk about it. That leaves just one other person with whom he can speak his mind._

_The three of us are planning on sneaking into Comic-Con so we can pass on our briefcase of cash to the executives from ZagToons. Our understanding is this might make us part owners in _Miraculous_ (which we obviously aren't at the moment). Hopefully they won't realize we pooled our Monopoly money until we sneak back out with the contract._

_Ep: I think I have another way in with ZagToons. What if we come up with a new Kwami that no one else has thought of?_

_Ic: On it! I call it Chunkk, the Avocado Kwami, which is the Kwami of Omega-3s, Huh, huh? _

_CM: I'm partial to LivreVer (Bookworm) the Kwami of Information_

_Ep: Then again..._

* * *

"I'm not going to be able to make it tonight," the image of Ladybug said on the small screen of Chat's baton. "You're welcome to prowl the city yourself if you like."

Chat raised a masked eyebrow. He was balanced on the wrought iron railing of the rooftop they normally met upon, and for the third night in a row, he was hearing at the last possible moment that patrol was formally cancelled. Chat looked forward to his nightly rounds with Ladybug and the opportunity it gave him to once more make the case that he was the cat of her dreams. What irked him was the nagging suspicion that he had made a major misstep with Ladybug; or, worse, she'd finally replaced him with that silly turtle. Or the fox.

"Are you all right, Milady?" he asked, for he was genuinely worried that she was ill in some way and hiding that from him, too. Which would not be unusual.

"I'm fine, Chat. It's just… personal things."

Her shifty look at that last statement made him blink. But he smiled his normal Chat smile. "Well, tomorrow night then?"

She smiled back, tiredly. "With luck."

The phone went dark and Chat snapped it closed, replacing the baton at the small of his back. He remained balanced on the railing, pensive. Something was definitely up, but without knowing Ladybug's alter-ego, it would be hard to determine what, exactly, was going on with his partner. He took small solace in the fact that neither the turtle nor the fox had shown up on the Ladyblog recently, so the chances of him being replaced were small - for the moment.

Chat didn't really feel like going back to the mansion. It wasn't like he had a full social calendar, either. Ladybug was his entire world outside of school; his alter ego was rarely allowed to be out with his schoolmates, so he put a premium on the freedom Chat allowed him. But with no one to talk to, it felt a bit empty that evening.

Reluctantly, Chat pulled out his baton and leapt into the night, starting to helicopter back toward the mansion and a long, boring evening surfing the Ladyblog or playing Xbox. Putting his mind on automatic, he didn't notice until he was nearly past it that he'd inadvertently plotted a course right past the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. Chat dropped out of his helicopter on a roof opposite and saw the lights were on over the rooftop patio, and Marinette was watering her plants. As lonely as he was feeling, he was unsure if he could impose upon her for a few minutes just to have a little human contact.

He'd nearly decided against interrupting her when she sensed something and looked up in his direction. How she'd seen him in the darkness he didn't know, but he saw her smile and beckon him over with a wave. Chat vaulted the distance and landed on the chimney he'd used once before, the night of the massive snowman. "Good evening," he said formally.

"Chat," she said pleasantly. He noticed she was leaning heavily on the brick planter. "What brings you to my balcony tonight? Not another broken heart, I hope."

"Not exactly," Chat said, smiling as he leapt down to the railing and balanced upon it facing her. "Ladybug cancelled our nightly patrol this evening, so I am at loose ends as to how to fill the hours."

Marinette smiled, but didn't move from where she was standing. "I find that hard to believe, especially for a superhero."

"Much like the last time I dropped in, I'm not feeling very super-hero-y tonight." His emerald feline eyes wore a bit of hurt and no small amount of concern. "It's the third time she's cancelled this week, and to be honest, I'm a little worried about her."

She started to move toward him, grimaced, but quickly hid it under a smile. "I'm sure she's fine, Chat," she said.

"You're probably right," he replied, looking up and away. "But I can't shake the sense that she's hiding something from me. I don't know if I've done something wrong, or if she's truly not well." He looked back at Marinette, and she could see the agony in his eyes now. "Or worse."

Marinette took a step towards him and winced. That's when he noticed the heavy bandage wrapped around her knee, and the crutch leaning against the skylight. "What happened to you, Princess?" He was genuinely worried. He'd missed school today, his father had scheduled a photoshoot at the coast, and by the time he'd got back to town, he had 20 minutes before the end of school.

Marinette laughed. "I was being my normal, clumsy self. I fell down some stairs Friday night. By the time Saturday morning rolled around, my knee was the size of a grapefruit. Nothing's broken, I just strained it. It just needs time to heal. I was stupid and tried to do too much about it on Friday, otherwise I'd probably be better by now."

"Oh, Princess. I'm so sorry! If I'd known, I would have checked on you, earlier!"

Marinette waved him off and hobbled to her chair. "I'll be fine. This is not anything unusual for me. I just hate how much it worries my friends. Enough about me… what is this about Ladybug? Tell me what's going on?"

"Are you sure, Princess? I don't want to worry you." At her look he continued, "Right, well, Friday night after the akuma attack, we had patrol, but she was very curt with me and cut out early. She hasn't gone out on patrol with me since, and fortunately there haven't been any akuma attacks, but I'm worried that I said or did something that upset her."

"Oh, Chat. I'm sure that's not the case. Maybe she's busy with something, work or school or something, and she's just unable to get away, and not in a position where she can talk much. Can you call her, or text her? Maybe ask her what's going on, or if she's mad at you. I'm sure she'll give you an explanation. She probably has no idea how worried you are."

"That a good idea. He pulled out his baton and called Ladybug. She didn't pick up, but he left her a message, with Marinette softly coaching him in the background.

He thanked Marinette, and insisted on carrying her back into her room, setting her on her chaise, then bringing her crutch back down. He wasn't sure how she'd even got up there in the first place without hurting her knee, but he was going to do everything that he could to make her life easier.

He had just arrived back in his room, when the phone on his baton rang, and Ladybug was apologizing for worrying him. She said that she was caught somewhere that she was unable to easily get out of, her presence in her civilian form was constantly being monitored. She was sorry that she had been abrupt with him, it was merely that she'd been pressed for time. Chat accepted her apology with a lighter heart, and said that he hoped he would see her soon. She smiled and agreed.

He still had his trademark Chat grin on his face when, in a green flash, he became Adrien again. His sleep that night was more peaceful that it had been since Friday.

The next morning, Adrien asked his chauffeur to stop at the bakery, he wanted to pick up some treats, as well as Marinette, in order to make her trip to school easier. He'd made sure he was early enough to catch her but was also cognizant of the fact that he - Adrien, rather - didn't normally drop in at the bakery at that hour on a school day. But he had a plan.

The bell on the door rang out as he entered the shop, and after taking a brief moment to try and smell the items on offer (and realizing it was nowhere close to the same experience when not transformed), he wandered to the counter with his model smile set to ten. Sabine was waiting behind the register, wrapping something in wax paper. "Adrien!" she said happily. "What a pleasant surprise! What brings you to our Bakery this morning?"

"I had a long photo shoot yesterday, Madame, and I am dragging just a bit. Please tell me some of Tom's famous brew is ready? And," he added hopefully, "a fresh batch of Belgian Chocolate croissants?"

Sabine smiled, although Adrien saw something cross her face. "One cup of Tom's blend coming up. I'll have to check on the croissants, though." She turned to fill a paper takeaway cup from the pot behind her. "It's funny, you're the second young man I know of who loves those croissants."

Realizing who that other person was, Adrien quickly changed topics before Sabine went too far. "Is Marinette going to school today?" he asked. "I heard she's injured. I'm happy to give her a ride if she wants - my sedan is out front if she's ready."

"Yes, dear," Sabine said, putting a top on the mug and sliding it across the counter. "She's just having breakfast upstairs." She clucked a bit. "We had no idea she was playing volleyball at school."

Adrien stared at her. "She… what?"

"I know, right?" she continued. "But the swelling has gone down quite a bit. I don't think she'll need the crutches for more than a week."

"A… week?" Adrien swallowed. "How bad is it?"

"We thought she'd torn her ACL, but the scan came back with just some inflammation." She laughed. "A few more days of rest and some ibuprofen should do the trick."

"Volleyball?" Adrien repeated, more to himself than Sabine. This was most definitely not what she had told Chat last night. She'd lied to him. What was more troubling was that she had also lied to her parents - he knew she wasn't even remotely interested in sports at school. But the injury he'd seen was very real.

_What on earth had she done? And why was she hiding it from me?_ he thought.

Marinette happened to appear at the door to the shop at that moment, crutches and all. "Maman, I'm off - oh, Adrien!" she said, eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

"Coffee," he quickly smiled. "Heading my way?" he added, leaning into his model training to keep his smile looking like it wasn't forced. "My car's out front."

"Uh, sure," she said, eyes flicking between her mother and Adrien.

He paid for his coffee and ignored the fact he'd not picked up anything to munch on. Adrien wasn't sure his roiling stomach would take it anyway. Carefully, he helped Marinette through the store and into the back of the sedan, and then they were off.

They rode in uncomfortable silence for a bit before Adrien decided to address the elephant in the room. "I didn't know you'd gotten hurt," he said. "I was on a shoot for Father. What happened?"

"Clumsy me," she laughed nervously. "I was helping papa Saturday morning before we opened, getting some flour from the basement and twisted funny on the stairs."

"Ouch," he grimaced for her, while realizing it was the third version of the injury. "How long are you on crutches?"

"Another week, maybe."

"That settles it," he said. "We'll get you back and forth to the Bakery while you are out of commision."

"Oh, Adrien, that's not necess-"

"Of course it is," he smiled. Marinette saw his determined expression and wisely decided not to argue.

He helped Marinette out of the sedan and was tempted to carry her all the way to their classroom, but realized it would be more of a Chat action than Adrien and settled for holding her books as she thumped her way across the quad and up the steps. It was totally Marinette to eschew the elevator.

Adrien hadn't realized how obvious the storm clouds surrounding him were until mid-morning, when Nino finally leaned into him. "Dude, what's with the face?"

"What face?"

"You look a bit like someone stole all of your music," he said, "and you've got a scary expression like you might actually stop at nothing to get it back."

Adrien found a Chat smile creeping onto his face. "That's not too far off," he agreed. "I'm having… trust issues at the moment, and I'm not sure how to proceed."

Nino smiled tightly. "Ah."

Adrien turned toward his friend. "That's okay," he said, smiling a bit wider. "I'm going to ask for some advice from a… uh, close friend."

_Very close,_ he thought smugly.

As school ended for the day, Adrien helped Marinette back to the sedan but didn't get in with her. "Aren't you going home?" she asked.

He shrugged apologetically. "Fencing practice. I'll see you in the morning, though."

Gorilla pulled away before she could reply, and once the sedan was out of sight, Adrien bolted around to a side alley and immediately transformed. Chat Noir was determined to get some straight answers from his friend and hurriedly flung himself toward the rooftops of Paris to beat the sedan to the Bakery.

Chat made it with moments to spare, landing elegantly on the balcony. Only seconds later did he hear the gentle opening of her door as Marinette hobbled into her room. Chat opened the balcony entrance a crack to ensure she was alone, then swung it open and leapt down next to her.

"CHAT!" she screamed, caught quite off guard,"what are you doing here?"

He offered a nervous grin, which was half practiced and half earnest.

"Um… well I was hoping to get some advice."

"Go ahead Chat, what's up?"

"So there's this girl I know. She's a really neat person, and a friend I think of quite fondly, but the other day I found out that she lied to my face. And I just hate liars. Now I'm not sure what to do… " he trailed off.

"Ah," Marinette said sagely, as if she were an impartial party,"so what did she lie to you about?"

Chat shrugged. "I'm sorry, I can't really tell you princess, It might put my identity at risk."

The sentence seemed to make her uneasy. Chat couldn't help but wonder why him refusing to tell her something made her feel bad. _Maybe she is wishing she had kept her mouth shut instead of lying. But it's not like she lied because she had a secret identity to protect._

After an eternal silence...or perhaps only several seconds, she finally spoke.

"Do you know why she lied? Maybe she had a good reason, or maybe she didn't."

Chat shook his head. "No I don't know why, it just scares me to think this near-perfect girl could end up being a Lila Rossi," he said with a mix of worry and sadness.

"I'M NOT A LILA!" Marinette yelled suddenly, causing Chat to stumble in surprise.

Chat noticed that her cheeks had turned red, and he looked at her seriously. "Who said anything about you?"

That only made her cheeks more red. "I-I-I dunno. I guess I just lied to someone about something and it's eating me up," she confessed.

Chat took a moment to study her. A single tear was clinging to her cheek, and she turned away nonchalantly. When she looked back at him, he noticed it was gone. Perhaps she was genuinely remorseful.

"Purrhaps talking ameowt it would make you feel better?" he suggested.

"I-I can't Chat, and I can't tell you why I can't."

Now that just wouldn't do. Chat had to know why his Purrincess. Why the most honest person he know had looked him in the eyes and lied.

"I think you can. Just be incredibly vague about it."

She stopped, and a look of relief, or perhaps penance, washed over her.

"Ok, so this personal thing happened, and I knew I couldn't just say what actually happened without making the problem worse. But I also couldn't just hide the problem and forget about it, so I told my parents a lie about it. Well, one thing led to another, and someone else asked. I lied to them too. Then a third person, and I really didn't want to lie to him, but I couldn't risk him finding out the truth either. So I lied again," her voice shook more and more with each passing word, as if her heart was breaking at the very thought of deceit.

Chat was no expert, but he did his best to read between the lines, and came up with one conclusion: Someone had deliberately hurt Marinette, and she was too scared to come forward and tell someone.

He stepped close to her and put a paw on either side of her shoulders. "Marinette, I am your friend. You can tell me anything and I will keep it in strictest confidence."

His emerald eyes locked with her deep blue and she could see they were blazing with concern; whatever he had originally come to talk to her about had been set aside. Her heart beat a bit faster, for some reason, at the realization Chat cared for her. Deeply.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, quietly. "It wasn't stairs, was it?"

"Chat," she started, and hesitated.

"Princess, tell me." He saw that a tear had started to roll down again, and used a gentle claw tip to wipe it away. "If someone has injured you, I want to know." He paused. "I _need_ to know."

Marinette took a deep breath. "Honestly, Chat, it's nothing like that. I just can't tell you. Or anyone."

Something flickered across his masked face, and after a moment, a warm smile appeared. "All right," he said, pulling her into an unexpected hug. "You realize by not telling me anything, I'll be forced to tear this city apart to find out what happened," he joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

To his surprise, Marinette started to sob into his chest. He held her closer, and gently ran a paw over her back, wondering what was so terrible that he had brought her to this emotional state. Normally he'd be the one asking for comfort; this was an unexpected development. Gently rocking her a bit, he said: "Please, mon cherie, tell me what happened. I only want to make you feel better, however I can."

She pulled her head back, tear stained face upturned. "You remember that akuma late last week?" she asked, sniffling slightly.

"Yes," Chat replied.

"I… well, it was just after you and Ladybug cleared it," she started. "I'd been… affected by it, and when the spell broke, I stumbled down the steps at the Trocadero. Badly."

Chat looked at her and frowned. "Princess, I was at the Trocadero, with Ladybug. There were no Parisians in the area - we'd made sure of that before luring the akuma there."

"You must have missed me," she said helpfully.

Chat started to reply to that, wondering why she'd lied, _again_. He and Ladybug had been very thorough, since they had needed a big enough space to handle the very physical akuma. Both of them had been thrown around a number of times - the thing had presented with eight octopus-like arms - and more than once he'd been smashed against a wall. Chat was used to that, though, since he generally was the distraction while Ladybug cooked up her Lucky Charm.

But he paused. Now that he thought about it, hadn't Ladybug been on top of that one wall? He'd been distracted for a moment by one of the flailing appendages and when he'd caught sight of his partner again, she was down in the plaza with him, getting ready to use the Charm that she was holding in her hands. At the time, he thought she'd been concentrating on what she was doing; that expression, though, could also be from intense pain.

Chat felt the color drain from his face. He knew who had hurt Marinette. It had been his moment of inattention. It was him.

_And she can't tell me_, he knew with a certainty, _because it would expose her secret._

Was it because she didn't trust him? Hadn't he proven to her that he was her partner, willing to lay his life on the line for her? The side fact that the woman he loved happened to also be his best friend was something he'd have to deal with later. But for now, he needed some way to prove to her once and for all he was all in.

It was his turn to take a deep breath. "It's me, isn't it?" he said. "I hurt you, didn't I?"

She pulled away from him like he'd shocked her. "No! Chat, no, nothing like that."

"Did you fall?" he asked. "In that one moment I was looking away?"

Now angered, Marinette twisted away and thumped over to her chaise. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Chat," she said as she dropped onto the couch.

He followed her a pace or two behind, then sat, cat-like, in front of her. His eyes lined up with hers at that angle, and he said, softly: "I'm sorry, Mari." His heart was heavy, sad that she didn't feel comfortable enough to reveal herself to him, tempered by his anger and letting her get injured on his watch - whether she was in or out of her mask.

"I won't press any further if that is what you want," Chat said very somberly. "But I can purromise that I won't ever let you down like that again."

Marinette looked at him. "It was the steps," she said, stubbornly. "I'll be fine in a few days."

"As you wish," he said, standing. Then, deciding that it might be easier, he added: "I'm going to take a few days off from being Chat Noir. I'll be letting Ladybug know that I need some… time." He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll check back with you this weekend?"

"Of course," she said, though a quizzical expression crossed her face. "What are you going to do?"

He'd already leapt to the bed, and had a paw on the skylight. "Purrsonal stuff," he said simply, unintentionally laying in some irony. And with that, he was off into the night with his tumbled thoughts.

True to his word, he transformed long enough that evening to bail on Ladybug, who (as he had expected) looked a bit relieved to not have to excuse herself for a fourth time for patrol. "I hope it's okay," he added after telling her he was taking the time. "I'm feeling a bit run down at the moment. Of course, if there's an emergency-"

"I understand," she said. The she added, softly, "You deserve a day or two, Chat."

He simply smiled, and clicked off. Chat hoped she didn't check the GPS function, for she'd discover he was high atop the Eiffel Tower, contemplating where to go from here. By the third day, he'd thought through all of the possible options and decided on one.

Marinette had continued to be shuttled by Adrien and his chauffeur for the remainder of the week, but by Friday afternoon, she'd told him she'd be fine on Monday. He'd smiled, as he had already assumed her fast healing would have her ready by Sunday to return to their patrols. But as Adrien, he had tried to dissuade her from jumping back in to normal patterns; she'd thanked him but politely declined.

Nevertheless, Adrien appeared at the Bakery early Saturday morning, intent on going through with his plan. Sabine met him in the shop. "Good Morning, Adrien" said Sabine. "What brings you here this early?"

"I'd like to talk to Marinette if I may, Madam Cheng."

"Of course, sweetheart. Call me Sabine. Marinette's up in her room. She's supposed to be doing homework, but you know her, I'm sure she's buried in her sketchbook. Just head on up."

"Thank you, Mad-, uh, Sabine." Adrien smiled at her and headed upstairs. Sure enough, Marinette was bent over her desk, maths book open on her desk, sketchbook on top, furiously scratching away. Pausing at the top of the stairs, he watched her for a few moments, tongue poking out between her lips, an air of complete concentration surrounding her.

Waiting until she lifted her pencil, Adrien greeted Marinette with a cheerful 'Good morning'. As he expected, she levitated out of her seat with a squeak, fortunately not jarring her bad leg in the process. "What are you doing here?" Asked Marinette. "Not that you aren't welcome, I just wasn't expecting you!"

"I'm sorry." Adrien replied. "I don't want to _bug_ you, but I have some free time today, and I just had to get out of the house." He held up his bookbag. "I was wondering if you wanted to cat-ch up on some homework with me."

A flicker of something passed across Marinette's face at the cat pun, too fast for him to identify it, but he knew he was on the right track. "I figured we could help each other _spot_ our mistakes if we work together."

They sat together companionably as they worked on their maths homework, Marinette's mother having brought them up something to snack on. Adrien lounged in a very typical Chat Noir pose as he worked on his homework. Marinette kept glancing over at him curiously, but didn't say anything.

After a while, Marinette sighed and threw down her pencil. Adrien looked over at her with feigned indifference. He saw Marinette, slumped in her desk chair, fingers threaded through her unbound hair, forehead resting on the heels of her hands. "What's wrong, Marinette?" Adrien asked, concerned for his friend.

"I'm sorry." Marinette replied, shaking herself out of her reverie. "You've been so kind to me this week, and I really appreciate it." She reached over and patted his arm, giving him a weak smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I've just got a guilty conscience right now. I had to tell a lie, which I absolutely hate doing, and I think I hurt a friend in the process." She looked down at her hands which were clasped in her lap.

Adrien took a deep breath. This was the part of his plan that made him the most nervous, as he wasn't sure how Marinette would react. "It's alright, Princess. I'm not upset. I understand."

At the use of Chat's nickname for her, Marinette's eyes snapped to his, wide and frightened, but Adrien could see the thoughts racing behind them.

He continued, "We made sure that the Trocadero was clear. You and I made sure that no civilians got hurt. There were only 3 people out in that space. You, me, and Heavy Huitter. I know you weren't the one akumatized, since I clearly saw his face afterwards. I know that the miraculous cure puts most things to rights, but that nothing can ever be exactly the same as it was. You're the one that told me that, after Master Fu explained it to you. I think YOU were the thing that was overlooked this time. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry for being distracted long enough for you to get hurt."

Marinette stared at him for a long, long time; not saying anything. Finally she blinked, and in a very soft whisper, barely audible to even his acute hearing, she murmured, "Chat?"

Adrien reached out to her, covering his small hands in her larger ones. "It's me, Bugaboo." He didn't get a chance to say much more before she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Stupid cat. Of course this isn't your fault! An akuma threw me down some stairs. NONE of that is on you. I'm pretty sure you were being dangled upside down at the time. I'd have been fine if miraculous cure had worked on me. I am so sorry that I lied to you. Twice. Or to both of you. Either way. I'm sorry."

Marinette and Adrien stood, arms around each other for a little while, enjoying the closeness and support of each other, and the novelty of knowing the whole of the other for the first time, regardless of the fact that they were friends both in and out the suits. When Marinette's bad leg began to tremble, Adrien pulled her down into his lap on the chaise, continuing to snuggle her close. Marinette, eyes closed, head resting on his shoulder, breathing him in.

Time stood still for the two of them as they drank in the presence of the other, but eventually Marinette sat up, and smiled at him, their eyes on the same level with her in his lap. Adrien's arms stayed loose, yet securely around her waist as she shifted position to talk to him. She took a deep breath and blurted. "Adrien, I've been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but, uh, do you want to go to the movies with me? I promise not to wear my pajamas and a towel this time." She looked at him nervously.

Adrien looked a little stunned. "Me? Of course I do! How many times have I asked you, and you've been the one saying no, all this time!"

Marinette blushed at the truth of his statement. "Yes, well, I was too blinded by the kindness of the boy who sits in front of me to acknowledge the heart of gold in the boy by my side, although he's been sneaking his way into my heart, too."

Joy radiated from every pore on Adrien's body. "Really? Because I've been having a tough time keeping my mind off one of my classmates, too. So much so that I've swung by to visit her as Chat." Marinette's eyes went wide, and her mouth puckered into a perfect 'o'. Adrien gave in to the temptation, leaning forward to kiss her, but stopping just short, giving Marinette the opportunity to push him away. She didn't, meeting him halfway in the only first kiss that counted.


	19. Love Letters

**June 19: Love Letters**

_Author's Note: A haiku, by Chubby Unicorn Mama:_

_All of us wrote this_

_A poetry filled epic_

_We hope you enjoy_

* * *

Chat climbed about 20 meters up the ginormous sequoia at the Buttes-Chaumont park. He was a little over halfway from the canopy of the tree, the perfect place to relax and write poetry. It was high enough that he didn't attract unwanted attention, but still the foliage was sparse enough to allow a glowing ray of sunshine to warm his skin.

Chat loved the sunshine, and yet he hungered for a different warmth. He dreamed of the napping on the warm lap of a beautiful girl, one who would love him and treasure and warm him more than the sun's rays ever could. However, love was for civilians. Normal people who could be themselves.

Adrien Agreste could have any girl he wanted, Chat knew that. But he was also painfully aware that many of those girls lived the synthetic smile he wore for photo shoots and the golden locks on his head. Very few knew his favorite flavor of macaron was passion fruit, or that he loved playing the piano, or hated camembert cheese.

Likewise his feline persona was just as condemned to a life of solitude. After all, how could a superhero ask a everyday citizen out? Any girl would likely say yes out of kindness to one of the saviors of Paris, but would she ever really mean it? And of course if he thought it would be hard to show someone the real him as Adrien, Chat only magnified things. How could he express how he was feeling to a girl while dressed as a cat? Ladybug had evaded his declarations for years before he had given up, under the impression that he had only been casually flirting. Likely any girl would miss the complex side of him.

And so, Chat did what he always did on Sunday afternoons. He crawled into his personal alcove of timber and washed away his longing with a pen. He wrote every bleeding word his heart could spill, confessing every hidden romantic thought and earnest desire.

"Dearest Lover of my fragile fragile heart,

O how I dearly wish to hear from you.

Mon ange, I wish we'd never part,

Though you're a Lover I ne'er knew.

Ma princesse, grace me with your smile,

For it is warm and good and true.

I'd bask in it for quite a while,

Though you're a Lover I ne'er knew.

Ma moitié, I must surely know,

Do you share my Parisian view?

I hope we've smiled and waved hello,

Though you're a Lover I ne'er knew.

Ma chérie, I must confess my love,

In all I dare to say or think or do.

None holds my heart here or above,

Though you're a Lover I ne'er knew.

And now, mon trésor, I ask of fate,

That you would write this poor hero.

Do more than just commiserate,

Become the Lover I'm glad to know."

Chat couldn't quite place what was wrong, but he wanted to adjust the last stanza. Perhaps it has a strange rhyme scheme, or the some of the meaning was lost. As he pondered how to fix it, his baton alerted him to a call.

"Chat! We have a new akuma called 'The Codemaster". She can hack into anything electronic with her tablet, which is another way of saying I really need your help. How soon can you be here?"

The hero looked at his partner's GPS location. She was only a few blocks away.

"I'll be there in 2 minutes!" He called, hanging up and mournfully storing the poem in a knothole, knowing he wouldn't have time to revisit his hideaway until next Sunday.

As soon as he had hidden the paper, he jumped out of the tree off to go save Ladybug.

Like clockwork, a week later Chat clambered up into his perch once more atop what he'd come to think of as his personal sequoia. The afternoon sun was bright as always, and the warmth radiated through his costume. Reaching the knot, he settled in and pulled out his unfinished work from the prior Sunday.

As he did so, he noticed a small card had been carefully attached to the top sheet. No more than a small business card, it held three short lines of verse:

_Clad in black leather -_

_Sailing through the night to me._

_How I love those ears!_

Both masked eyebrows shot up. It had been carefully scribbled longhand, but wasn't handwriting he immediately recognized. Sniffing the paper didn't gain him much other than the fact it was heavyweight and a traditional fountain pen had been used. Removing it from his stack of paper, he rotated it, but there was nothing on the back.

Someone had found his knothole.

He looked down; whoever had climbed all the way to the crown had no fear of heights. But who would randomly choose to do so - aside from him, of course? He set that aside, and returned to the haiku in his paw. It couldn't be a coincidence that the writer was evoking his costume in the short but vivid lines. And he certainly sailed through the skies when he travelled the rooftops of Paris.

Chat found himself smiling. So, he had an admirer - but one who could climb trees. And, apparently, write poetry. Those were unusual enough characteristics, but he'd need more before he'd be able to start looking for them. Carefully, he put the small card in his costume pocket and flipped to the final page of the poem he'd been working on the prior week. His eyes widened a bit as he hit the final page, for handwritten corrections - in the same hand as the small card - had been made to that troublesome final stanza.

And now, mon trésor, I ask of fate,

That you would write this poor hero. Raise me up from my low;

Do more than just commiserate, Become the friend who can relate.

Become the Lover I'm glad to know For only your love can save this hero.

He shouldn't have been surprised that whoever had climbed up here had read what he'd stashed, but he was slightly amazed at the audacity of the correction. It wasn't bad, but he also wasn't sure it was keeping the thread of the overall work intact. Chat kept coming back to the fact that someone had read it in the first place - and understood it for what it was. That longing in his heart started to shift: he needed to find whoever this unknown person was.

For clearly they understood his loneliness.

He flipped to a blank page and quickly scribbled a few lines:

My Love, for now I shall dare to call you my Juliet.

As you are the warmest sun I would hope to know.

Your eyes- blue or green, or a color unmentioned yet?

Your name, my Lover, I must surely know!

O Juliet, does your hair dare to shimmer black?

Or does it take on brown's radiant glow?

A pixie cut, or shoulder length, or is it to your back?

Your name, my Lover, I must surely know!

Please tell me dearest Juliet- does your smile change the day?

Does your laughter cause the sad to smile and lift spirits of the low?

Can your kindness wipe a lifetime, nay, thousand years of pain away?

Your name, My Lover, I must surely know!

Almost on cue, Chat's baton buzzed much as it had the week prior. He slipped it out from his back and popped it open, and his heart lifted as it always did when he saw Ladybug. "Milady," he said, careful to keep the phone camera pointed at a angle to disguise his location.

"And here I was thinking it would be a quiet Sunday," she sighed. "We've got another akuma, terrorizing people at the plaza outside of the Louvre. Care to join me?"

"I'm feline frisky this afternoon, LB. I'll be there in five."

She smiled and the call ended. Carefully, he replaced his poem in the knothole, ensuring that his latest verse was on top, and then vaulted away to help his partner.

Chat missed a week as Gabriel had scheduled an out-of-town photoshoot for Adrien; two Sundays later, he was able to climb to the top of his tree, somewhat trepidatiously. Chat had no idea if his admirer would even attempt to repeat their earlier effort, but something in his heart had hoped they would.

Reaching his knothole, he retrieved his poem and found not one, but two small cards carefully pinned to the top sheet. He quickly realized they'd come back _twice_, leaving one card each week. Slowly, heart pounding, he read the first card.

_Me as Juliet?_

_You are more than Romeo!_

_Our love is as strong._

Chat smiled. Not "our love will be," but rather "is." An unusual sentiment from a secret admirer. The handwriting was the same, and sniffing the paper didn't reveal anything he'd not smelled originally, save for a scent so faint, even his superior senses couldn't quite place it. He slipped it under the next card, which he read.

_Deep blue are my eyes -_

_To match your emerald green;_

_Windows to our hearts._

There was perhaps the first answer - they had blue eyes. He also intuitively knew it had to be someone he spent time with; sure, his image was plastered all over the Ladyblog, but this felt more personal to him than a random fan letter. Especially given they had climbed up his tree three times now.

Holding the final card up, he sniffed it and came away with more of that strange scent. It was vaguely exotic, and his vast catalog of scents was telling him he'd run across it before. Sliding the two cards into his costume pocket, he retrieved his pen and started to work on a fresh page.

In a crowd I am alone

My true thoughts are known to few

There are not many I can call friend

But I hope they include you.

Eyes blue, much like the clearest skies

Their gaze I long to see

Or dark, much like the ocean's depth

When they are turned to me.

His heart pounded as he thought about what he wanted to write in his last stanzas, afraid that he would scare away his Juliet.

You're features are like mist to me

I long to take a peek

You seem to know my deepest wish

So for your name I seek.

Heart to heart I greet you

Perched up here like a bird

One day I wish to meet you

And exchange a spoken word.

Before he could change his mind, he tucked the poem into the knothole and scrambled down out of the tree.

From across the open space, near where the tulips bloomed in the spring, tucked into the same corner that she sketched in most Sundays, Marinette watched Chat Noir running from the tree like his tail was on fire. She snatched up her phone to check the Ladyblog, and any other news source for an akuma alert. Seeing none, she relaxed, telling herself that she needed to wait for a few hours before she could climb the tree and respond to his poem. She's been watching him in that tree for months, and a few weeks ago had finally given into the curiosity that had been brewing inside her and climbed the tree to check out what her kitty had been up to. When she found his stash of poetry, she's sat there and read everything that she'd found. Her heart went out to him… he sounded so lonely. The last stanza of the poem resting on top had really grated on her, especially since the rest of the poem had resonated so well, so she'd set it aside, coming back to fix it after reading the rest. She added a poem on one of the little cards she carried around for jotting down information about fabric, or other little things she needed to be more accessible than her sketchbook. Then she'd climbed down and waited until the next Sunday, when she was there sketching.

She was able to lose herself in a design for a few hours, but as the shadows moved across the garden, she knew it was time. Running over to the dense foliage at the base of the tree, she ducked underneath and transformed into Ladybug. She'd started climbing once as Marinette, it was a fairly easy climb with plenty of sturdy branches, but received such a scolding from Tikki after about 10 meters, that she now climbed as Ladybug and switched over to Marinette once she was safely ensconced in the branches.

That first climb, it had taken her a long time just to find the knothole. In theory, she knew where Chat sat up in the tree, she'd seen him up there soaking in the sun, but seeing it from outside the tree, and from inside the tree were completely different. She'd almost given up when she saw a glimpse of white in a knothole about 3 feet above her head. Climbing up, she had uncovered a treasure trove of poetry.

She thought about this as Ladybug methodically climbed the tree, swinging herself onto Marinette's preferred branch, which was slightly above the one that Chat reclined on. She settled back to read Chat's latest addition to his collection, noticing that the past few weeks cards were gone.

She smiled to herself, thinking about the fact that she spent time with Chat in both her guises, and that she definitely considered him her friend.

_Your smile is the sun_

_My friend you always will be_

_Together always._

She tucked both the poems back into the knothole, and shimmied back down the tree, switching back to Marinette, before heading to the Metro station to catch the train back home.

The next week, Chat climbed the tree a little earlier than usual. He couldn't help but feel his heart, and allowed it to hang on his sleeve. As he reached the top he plucked the card from the crevice and read it hungrily, seeking warmth and emotion that emanated from it.

Then he returned another in its place, hoping she would accept a free verse poem.

Juliet may I tell you a secret?

It's one you must swear to keep.

It is that you make me feel

Joy.

I dread toils of the common day,

From dawn to dusk I scream alone,

Yet on this blesséd day,

I dare to have

Hope.

We perhaps do not know each other.

You to I, for I wear a mask,

I have forgotten my name at home.

I to you; I am yet to behold your face.

Your smile is hidden, though angelic.

But perhaps this is not the case,

For I have seen your Celestial Soul,

And I have bared mine to you.

One may claim that you have watched me,

And climbed up massive trees,

And written words on paper.

But that would be a lie.

You have given me a gift,

More precious than diamonds,

I have a true friend.

Chat frowned, crumpled it up, and hid it in a part of the knothole that was difficult to reach. Hopefully she wouldn't notice how much he had shared with her. In fact, he decided to write a more standard poem to hide the one he had written before. Something sweet, but not as revealing.

You make a perilous journey up this tree,

I can only hope that you climb up for me.

I am dazzled by you,

And this is most true:

I must admit that you make me happy.

He smiled at the sweet limerick and placed it on the other side of the hiding spot, hoping she wouldn't see his true confession. Though perhaps a part of him did hope she would see both, or he would have hidden the first in his pocket to dispose of it.

_Well, time to go._ And with the final thought he leapt down.

Marinette was a little later than usual, arriving at her sketching spot near the tulip bed. They'd had an akuma show up late last night, and she'd slept in a little that morning. She didn't know that Chat had come and gone, and she saw no sign of him that day. As the shadows started to lengthen, Marinette realized she needed to climb now, or she'd miss her chance, even if it was just to leave the poem she'd already written for him.

She scrambled up the tree, a little faster than usual, and swept her hand into the knothole. She came up with a short, but sweet, poem, amazed at how well it went with the one she had written for him.

_Climbing up to you_

_Heart pounding with emotion_

_Anticipation_

She was tucking his poem and hers back into the tree trunk, when she hit a wadded up paper ball in the back. She pulled it out, tucking it into her yoyo. Expecting just to drop her card off, she hadn't changed back into Marinette.

She took the paper out of her yoyo before destransforming, but just tucked it back into her purse. Heading home, she forgot about it until she was in her bedroom. When she opened her purse, letting Tikki out, the kwami started gushing, and waved the now smooth paper at her. "Marinette! You have to read this!"

Taking the paper from her kwami, Marinette smoothed it out further and read it. Placing a hand over her heart, she sighed at her Kitty's flair for the dramatic, but couldn't, in all honesty, disagree with the sentiment.

She immediately sat down to write a response to his poem, hoping to find some time during the week to slip both poems into the tree.

_So glad I found you_

_I'd climb anything for you_

_I love you, Kitty._

Marinette looked at the poem, her hands shaking a little. She'd known her kitty for so long now, both as Ladybug and as Marinette, but finding some poems he'd hidden in a tree had made her fall in love with him. She wasn't entirely sure how that had happened, but she knew it to be true.

Two days later, she was able to climb the tree and hide her poem away. The previous poems were undisturbed, so it appeared that he only came by on Sundays. Marinette had been thinking over a plan… coming up with a way to let Chat know that she was the one leaving the letters. She'd considered leaving clues in poems, just being in the tree waiting for him one day, and even just quoting one of his poems to him when she saw him. Whether she'd do this as Ladybug or Marinette, she wasn't sure yet, but the idea that she liked the best was to leave him poem clues, leading him on a treasure hunt. She'd write poems, sending him around the city, each place with a clue to her identity, and another poem, leading him to another place, until he ended up on her balcony.

Whichever way she chose, she had until Sunday to decide.

Later that week, Chat scampered up the towering timber, excited to see what message she had left him, and if she had discovered his secret second poem. He saw both of his poems were missing, and had been replaced by two from Juliet.

He scanned the first and felt his heart leap. "I love you, Kitty," he whispered to himself. He wondered if she could have meant that romantically, but brushed it aside. Likely she had meant to convey it in a flirtatiously platonic way. He had assumed that she had read all his poems from that viewpoint, and at the beginning that was the tone. But the last one, his hidden confession that she had found had been the beginning of more.

Trembling, he removed the second one she had left for him.

My green-eyed Romeo, who I gladly greet,

I dare to wonder when we shall finally meet.

I have chosen where, but you shall choose when,

And I shall sit in utter anticipation for that time then.

I am most surely your Juliet, royal by blood,

My raven hair shines, and my feelings bud.

My hands create beauty, and my heart seeks love,

While my mind starts to wonder when you'll find me above.

So my dearest Chaton, find me if your heart longs like mine.

Search for you Juliet, that love can conquer; tis divine.

I dwell where you first reminisced your first heartbreak,

If you feel the same, that place has a new heart to take.

He stared at it, reading it over and over. She loved him. And moreover it was romantically.

"And she wants to meet," he let out, barely above a whisper.

And suddenly, he felt like he had dropped out of the tree as a realization hit him. He didn't know who she was. He scanned the hints through her poem. Was she some Dutchess, or Countess, or Baroness? Perhaps she was English, but that didn't matter to Chat. It only meant that he was even more confused about her. He ignored the details and compiled the list of things he could remember:

Blue eyes, black hair, royal, hands create beauty (perhaps an artist?), she lives "above", and I can apparently access a place that I had my first heartbreak… and she knows where it is.

He quickly wrote another poem, confirming the level of his love for her, and asking for another hint or two (or at least some clarification).

O Juliet, the love you offer is accepted as mine,

And I shall surely make it, that my heart is thine.

Have patience, my dear, and you I shall find,

Though I can't recall all, would you care to remind?

I love you.

He hesitated at the last line, for it fit no part of the poem. But perhaps that gave it a symbolic meaning, for it neither made sense, nor did it seem to tie in with everything around it. But both the last line, and his actual feelings existed there, regardless of what made sense.

Satisfied, and hoping that he would soon be allowed to wrap his arms around his Love, Chat leapt down from the tree. As he climbed down, he spotted a familiar face.

Chat walked towards her and smiled. "Princess, do you come here often?" he asked sweetly.

Marinette grinned, realizing she had been made out. "Yes, every week."

"Oh good. By chance have you seen a girl who climbs that tree every Sunday?"

Marinette's countenance fell. "Oh, um… no. Sorry."

Chat seemed unaware of her sudden change of mood and explained, "Ok. It's fine."

"What's it about?" Marinette asked half-heartedly.

"Well, there's a girl who writes me every week, and I may have sort of fallen in love with her, despite never having met her in person. And while she's given me hints to who she is and where I can meet her, I'm not the brightest guy out there. Heck, she could be here in this park right now and I wouldn't know. Which kills me, because I just want to wrap my arms around her and tell her how I feel."

Marinette bit her lip, trying to contain both excitement and the urge to confess her actions. "Ah. Well, best of luck Chat. You deserve a girl who makes you happy."

Chat smiled as he bid her farewell, and thought to himself, "If Juliet is half as wonderful as Marinette, I'll be the happiest cat in the world."

Marinette waited until she was sure her kitty had cleared the area, and then waiting a good half hour beyond that before hurriedly packing up her art supplies and dashing to the sequoia. One she was hidden, she called for her transformation and pulled herself up to her Ladybug branch just above Chat's knothole.

Her heart was beating fast as she gently reached into the space, withdrawing the package of poetry Chat had left behind. Holding her breath she quickly scanned the most recently penned lines, smiling broadly as she recognized she had truly hooked her kitty. And then found herself smirking slightly that, as usual, he'd need a bit more of a nudge to see what was so blatantly obvious.

Temporarily de-transforming, she pulled a small card out of her purse, laughing slightly at the expectant expression Tikki was wearing as she handed a pen up to her. Tapping the pen on her chin, she thought through something short that would get Chat back on track.

_Spices, exotic_

_Follow your nose – I'll be there_

_My heart awaits you_

She clipped that card to the bundle, and then scribbled a second part, just to drive the point home a bit.

_Cat treats for my love_

_Shared with those emerald eyes_

_Perched upon my rail_

Tucking the cards and the poetry bundle back into the tree, she transformed back to Ladybug and swung off toward home, giddy with anticipation, but knowing it might be another week before Chat discovered her latest addition. She resigned herself to the wait, and spent the intervening days thinking up additional verses should she need to drop further breadcrumbs.

The following Sunday, Chat made his way back to the sequoia and made short work of reaching the branches by his knothole. He had wanted to return to the tree nearly the moment after he'd left it the prior weekend, but knew he'd need to give his admirer time to respond to his poem. Chat was rewarded for his patience with the discovery of two small cards with short but meaningful messages. Brow furrowing, he read through the lines multiple times and felt like something was tickling in the back of his feline brain. Unzippering a pocket, he removed the other cards he'd received and read through them all from first to last, very carefully taking in each line.

_...raven hair shines..._

_...mind starts to wander, find me above…_

_...dwell where you first reminisced your first heartbreak…_

_...spices, exotic…_

_...perched…_

Chat's masked green eyes widened and he facepawed.

_I really can be thick at times, can't I!_ he thought as he quickly slid all of the cards back into his costume, and for good measure, folded his own poetry up and placed it into the opposite pocket - once more amazed at the magical capacity they seemed to have. Pulling out his baton, he leapt away from the giant tree and helicoptered into the clear azure sky, but only after ensuring a certain set of pigtails were _not_ present at the park that afternoon.

Marinette had nearly been there, though, but at the last minute threw her hopes and desires on the beneficence of providence and had decided to lay out her art materials on the rooftop patio of her family's bakery. She'd carefully added a fresh plate of baked goodies, including multiple flavors of macaroons and a few croissants. On his irregular visits, Chat had munched through most of the inventory of the bakery; she was nearly certain he was partial to the passion fruit macarons, though she'd not want to get between him and a Belgian Chocolate croissant, either.

Settling in to wait, optimistically hoping Chat would put together the clues she'd provided, she tried to sketch ideas for a new dress; instead, she found herself working on Chat's head and torso, focusing her attention on getting that wild mane of his nearly perfect beneath those cute cat ears. She was _so _focused on it, she missed the rubbery thump on the chimney above her.

"Not bad, Purrincess," she heard softly from behind her. "Though I feline my other side is better."

Smiling, she turned slightly from where she was leaning against the wrought iron and watched as Chat smoothly leapt down to the railing beside her, perching easily. "Hello, Chat," she said. "What brings you to my rooftop this afternoon?" Her heart pounded. Had he figured it out?

_Or_, she thought with a bit of dread, _did he need help and had dropped in for advice?_

Those masked emerald eyes were dancing with something she couldn't quite place. He smiled at her, and then shifted his gaze to the plate, raising one masked eyebrow. "Are those Chat treats?" he asked.

Marinette felt her heart skip slightly. "Yes," she said. "Help yourself."

He slid off the railing and circled around her. "I was in the neighborhood," he said as he grabbed a macaroon. "My superior feline sense of smell picked out some _exotic_ scents on the wind, and I felt duty bound to investigate." Chat smiled around his mouthful.

"Did you now," she replied.

"Yes." He nabbed one of the croissants and, without taking his eyes off her, neatly leapt back to the railing, perching once more next to her. "You come up here to dream, don't you?"

"I do," she said. "I find all sorts of inspiration on this roof."

"I climb up here often, too, don't I?" he said, eyes still twinkling.

"Among other places," she nodded, realizing her kitty was playing with her. A smile came to her face and she decided to move things along. "Seriously, Chat, why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, smirking ever so slightly. "I'm hunting."

"Hunting?" she said, startled slightly. _That_ wasn't what she'd expected.

"Yes, Princess." He smiled more widely, "I'm hunting."

Marinette felt something at her waist and realized his tail had encircled her; before she had a chance to react, she was facing him. Chat was still balanced perfectly on the railing, but had managed to lean just close enough that his masked nose could almost touch hers.

She found herself staring into those deep emerald eyes. "Would you like to know what I'm hunting for?" she heard him ask.

"Yes," she said.

"I'm hunting for the girl who has stolen my heart," he whispered, so quietly she nearly didn't hear him. "The girl of my dreams."

Marinette's heart filled with joy at the realization Chat had known to come to her. But she had to be sure.

"Have you found her, then?" she asked carefully, holding her breath and keeping her eyes firmly locked on Chat's.

"'What light, through yonder window breaks? 'Tis the east, and Juliet is the sun,'" he said, smiling a very non-Chat like grin. Gently he leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips: quick, slightly uncertain, but full of promise.

"Hello, Juliet," he breathed as he pulled back, his eyes searching hers, hoping, _wishing_ he wasn't wrong.

Marinette felt as though her heart would burst from her chest. "Hello, Romeo," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his forehead down to hers.

Much like Shakespeare's lovestruck duo, Marinette knew there were uncharted waters ahead. Looking into his love-filled eyes, she knew it didn't matter what challenges they were going to face. He would be there through it all. For her.

Chat seemed to be reading her thoughts. "Yes," he said happily. "I've found her." He kissed her again, a little longer than the first, before pulling back

"And she's keeping my heart. Furever."


	20. Soft Touches

**June 20 - Soft Touches**

_Author's Note: Chubby Unicorn Mama here! For this one you can blame me. The idea came from a conversation I had with Icarus, who told me I could, absolutely not, under no circumstances kill Chat Noir. And, well, when someone tells me I can't do something…._

_CM: We have had several inquiries as to how our quest to gaining the rights to Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir are going. Well, I am happy to say that we just got this letter that stated, "They who the Miraculous seek, must answer me these questions three e're the Miraculous they see: What is your name? What is your quest? What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" Well, this should be easy!_

_Ep: Velocity? Unladen… what? You realize I only _write _math geniuses, right?_

_Ic: An African or European swallow?_

* * *

The akuma grinned wickedly, his eyes dancing with delight, as the sword plunged between Chat Noir's ribs, piercing his heart. The akuma twisted the blade and the last of the light faded from Chat's eyes. At her heartbroken scream, the akuma turned towards the unprotected Marinette a triumphant smiled breaking across its lips. "Your turn, little girl" it snarled.

Stepping between Chat's broken body and the rapidly approaching akuma, she practically screamed, "Tikki! Spots on!" At this point she didn't care who saw her. Chat had fought his last fight, and it was up to her to protect his miraculous and his body. She waited for her transformation to overtake her, but nothing happened. Reaching for her earlobes and finding them bare, she screamed, near hysterical, "Tikki!".

The akuma continued his relentless approach. Marinette took a step back, slipping in the pool of blood that was spreading under Chat Noir. The akuma's sword brushed her sternum and a hoarse scream was ripped from her throat. Her arms pinwheeled as she fell, fighting for herself, her earrings, her partner. She lost her battle with gravity, the ground rushing up to meet her, and she sat up in bed, gasping, fingers bone white gripping the sweat soaked sheets.

Tikki flew up to where her chosen one sat, panting. "The dream again?"

Taking a shaky breath, Marinette replied, "Yes. Well, he had a sword this time, but same ending. Chat died, and there was nothing I could do to save him. I couldn't even transform this time. My earrings were gone."

Tikki said nothing, but cuddled up against Marinette, offering her support as much as she could. Slowly, the teen's breathing returned to normal, and she was able to relax into her pillows once more, although sleep eluded her the rest of the night.

The dreams had been coming every night for a week. The week itself had been very quiet, no akumas had shown themselves, and Marinette was becoming more and more on edge. She'd talked about the lack of akumas with Alya the day before, as the blogger had been bemoaning the lack of new content for her Ladyblog. Chat had been spotted out and about a few times, but there had been no sign of Ladybug or any akumas.

Marinette dragged herself into school that morning, on time, but exhausted. She gripped a large cup of coffee in her hand, and practically collapsed at her desk, once she'd dragged her tired body into the classroom. She remained awake through her first two periods, although she might as well have slept, because she couldn't remember a word that was spoken during them.

It was during the break between second and third periods, when Alya asked what was wrong. Or, Alya asked what was wrong and Marinette both heard and understood her words. She looked over at her best friend and said that she'd been having nightmares. When pressed as to the subject, all she would say was that akumas were killing people she loved and she was left on the sidelines to watch. Alya hugged her friend, saying that nightmares were terrible, but it was a good thing that they had Ladybug watching over Paris, and that she and Chat Noir would always save the day.

Having overheard the whole conversation, Adrien and Nino turned around to reassure Marinette as well, with Adrien adding, "Don't worry. Ladybug can handle anything. She will always save us!"

Marinette thanked her friends and tried to smile for them, but in reality, their words only made her feel worse. Everyone expected her to have the answers all the time. To always step in and save the day. She had no problem with that. She was a superhero, after all, and would do whatever it took to make sure that Paris was safe, but it was wearing her down. This was why, she knew, she was having the nightmares.

That evening, she was slogging through her homework, just trying to finish, so that she could get some sleep before the nightmares came. She was almost done, when she heard the thump on her roof. She dragged herself up to her bed, opening her skylight, letting Chat Noir to drop down next to her. Once he was sitting on her bed, she hugged him tightly to her, burying her face in his chest. He held her close, petting her hair, a little bewildered at her display, before realizing that she was shaking with silent tears.

He pulled her back enough that he could see her face, and gently wiped a tear of her cheek with the back of his index finger, keeping his claws pointed away from her. Her wet blue eyes met his puzzled green ones, and she let out an audible sob. "Oh, Chat, I am so sorry. I've been having these terrible nightmares. I-I see you get killed by an akuma, right in front of me, and I just stand there and do nothing. I just feel so helpless, and you're _gone!_" Marinette started crying again, and Chat pulled her close to him, resting her head on his shoulder, shushing her gently.

Stroking her hair, Chat realized that while they'd been friendly, they'd never really been this physically close, and wondered at how completely natural it felt to sit there on Marinette's bed, the girl cradled in his arms, just sitting.

Marinette made a cute little sound that is somewhere between a hiccup and a snore, and Chat realized that she'd fallen asleep. He laid her down on her bed, pulled a blanket up to her waist, but noticed that Marinette will not let go of him. She had her arms around his neck, and no matter how he twisted, she wouldn't let go. Guessing that she probably won't sleep for too long, Chat laid down beside her.

Chat Noir is racing across the rooftops of Paris. He knows there is an akuma on the loose, and that Ladybug is battling it, alone, but he can't seem to catch it up. He's been following the Ladyblog and several news outlets, but every time he arrives, the akuma and Ladybug have just disappeared, with no clue as to where they went. Finally he sees the red beetles flying that mean the Miraculous Cure has been used, and he's able to find Ladybug.

She turns to look at him with utter disdain in her eyes. "Oh Kitty. You're too late. I didn't need you. I can save Paris all on my own, you know. I don't know why you even bother showing up some days."

"I'm so sorry." Chat Noir said, shakily, not used to seeing this side of Ladybug, although he's often feared that she felt this way. "I've been trying to find you, but every time I would show up, you and the akuma would have just disappeared. I am so sorry I wasn't there to help."

Ladybug sneers at him. "Well, if it's that hard to find an akuma, maybe you shouldn't even bother trying next time. Just stay home and hide your ring from Hawkmoth. At least then, you'll be useful." With that, she swings away from a stunned and heartbroken Chat Noir, who stares after her in shock for a few moments, before screaming, "Ladybug, wait!" before jerking upright.

As Chat opened his eyes and loosened his grip on the sheets, he realized that he was still in Marinette's bed, and it was several hours later than it had been when he'd lain down next to her. Looking at the girl next to him, hearing her starting to whimper in her sleep, he reached over and shook her awake.

Marinette opened her eyes, the nightmare having just started for her, she had been spared seeing her partner's death in her dreams, by his very live form, next to her in her bed. She reached out to touch him, checking that he was real. They sat that way, for a few minutes, collecting their thoughts, Marinette's hand resting on his arm.

Turning to Chat, Marinette asked, "Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare, too?" Chat nodded, but remained silent, so Marinette added, "Will you tell me about it?"

Chat Noir closed his eyes for a moment, debating whether to tell Marinette about his dream or not. Eventually, he nodded, and, not meeting her eyes, told her what had transpired in his dream. His posture was slumped, and his ears drooped by the time he'd finished. Patting his arm, Marinette assured him that there was no way that Ladybug thought that about him. Alya often reported on Ladybug saying how she couldn't do her job without Chat Noir.

Marinette had a calculating gleam in her eyes, that reminded Chat of when Ladybug was coming up with a plan. She turned her body towards him, and slid her hand down her arm until her hand covered his. "I'm sorry if this is personal, but I need to ask you some questions. I know for me, being helpless is one of my biggest fears. That when I'm being depended upon, I can't step up and do what is needed. Is being worthless yours?"

Chat squeezed her hand, and not meeting her eyes nodded. "That and being abandoned, being left behind by someone I love."

"Is this a dream you have often?" She asked.

"While it is something I think about, I've never had a nightmare that vivid." Chat replied.

Marinette nodded, almost as if she had expected that answer. "When was the last akuma attack?"

Chat mentally counted back in his head. "Ten days. Maybe eleven."

Marinette nodded in confirmation, and glanced at the clock. "Eleven days, since it is currently 1am. This is my 8th night having this nightmare, or one similar to it. My parents have been having restless nights, too. Now that you've slept in this building, you've had a nightmare. I think there is an akuma, and it is targeting, if not my family, this general area. It was released 8 days ago, and we're just now realizing it."

Chat looked at Marinette with a little but of awe. He was used to Ladybug putting connections together like that, but he'd never seen anyone else do it. He pulled himself up out of the bed, and through the skylight. Looking down at Marinette, he told her he was going to go check it out, and that he would give Ladybug a call and fill her in.

Marinette followed Chat out onto the balcony, watching as he disappeared into the tangle of alleys below. Ducking back into her bedroom, Marinette called out to Tikki, and transformed into Ladybug. She rapidly headed in the opposite direction from Chat Noir, and once she was a few streets away, picked up her yo-yo, and returned his call.

"Milady! Glad you're awake. I believe there is an akuma in the area, that has been present for several days. It makes people live out their worst fears in their dreams. "

Ladybug nodded. "I'm near your location. I'll meet you shortly." Turning around, she swung off in the direction that Chat had headed.

Landing next to her partner on a rooftop a few streets away, they devised a search pattern. Three quarters of an hour later, Ladybug spots something unusual on a rooftop, half a block from her house. The owners had, once, set it up as a rooftop garden, but had let it grow wild, a small shed pressed up against the roof access door. The only clear spot was between the two doors, and Ladybug swung over to investigate.

The overgrowth looked like it had been pushed aside by the opening of the two doors, the swaths cut in the vegetation almost overlapping. Ladybug approached the shed first. Nudging the partially open door a little wider with her foot, she saw the form of a sleeping boy, not much older than herself, appearing to be clothed in an old fashioned nightgown made of moonlight and stardust; gauzy and hard to look at. In his arms was clutched a ragged teddy bear.

She stepped back outside the shed, and crossed the roof, texting Chat to come and join her. When he appeared out of the night moments later, she whispered to him what she'd found. She thought he might be the child that had run away from his foster home a few weeks ago. He might not have been intentionally targeting anyone, just his presence was having an effect.

Together, they stepped back over to where the young man was sleeping. Much of him seemed ethereal, the only solid part was the teddy bear, which Ladybug plucked from his sleeping grasp. Gently, she tore open the bear, releasing the akuma, which she promptly caught. Tossing her yo-yo up in the air, she called for the Miraculous Cure. The form of the sleeping young man turned back into that of a flesh and bone boy, his clothes into an oversized hoodie, the same color as Ladybug's hair, and faded blue jeans. However, he didn't stir. Even after the magical cleansing ladybugs had disappeared, not that there was much for them to fix, the young man continued to lay there, unmoving. Ladybug walked over, placing her hand on his shoulder. It was cool, but she could feel the faint rise and fall of his breath, so she shook him slightly. When he still didn't wake, she turned to Chat, who was already calling for an ambulance.

While they were waiting, Ladybug sat next to the boy, touching his arm, telling him everything would be alright. The boy never woke until the paramedics arrived, and said that he was most likely only suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. News reports the next day confirmed that the young man was recovering well.

Chat Noir thanked Ladybug for her help, and headed towards home. He was almost there, before he decided to go back and check on Marinette. She was standing on her balcony with a small plate of cookies. "I hoped I would see you again tonight. Was it an akuma? Were you able to capture it?" Hope flooded her voice.

Smiling down at her, he nodded. "You should have good dreams from now on, Princess."

She stepped forwards and put her arms around him in a tight hug. "Stay with me for a little while? Please? Just to make sure?"

He chuckled, his breath setting her hair to dancing as it lay unbound against her neck. Pulling back, he softly tucked her hair behind her ears. "Of course."

They sat together in her deck chair, soft touches reminding the other of their worth. Their presence in each other's lives a reminder that neither was useless or unneeded. Even if the rest of the world couldn't see it, they would always have each other's back. Whether they knew it or not.


	21. Secrets

**June 21: Secrets**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here and we find ourselves in what is now the third part of the story that started back on June 1 in _Kiss_. In this final chapter, we see what happens when Chat and Marinette find their two lives colliding and how they choose to deal with it. At least, I hope this is the final chapter - but all three of us are responsible for this entry. There are only so many days in June, after all._

_Speaking of secret identities, I've created a heroic alter ego named Super Thomas who happens to own the rights to _Miraculous_. Unfortunately, CM has taken away my kwami. I was so close to world domination. _

_CM: I am LivreVer! I am the holder of the bookworm miraculous! I have the power to write a story in less than 2000 words! (just not this one…)_

_Ic: Less than 2000? Ep, what kind of mystical power does she have?! That Miraculous it too powerful for anyone to possess._

* * *

_**Chat Noir**_

After the third call went straight to voicemail, I started to get the picture - Marinette had clearly seen the livestream of my interview with Alya and was, to put it mildly, upset. I couldn't blame her. I'm not even certain I knew myself why I had blurted out that I loved Ladybug on live television. So much for clearing the air.

I tucked the baton away at the small of my back and looked out across the skyline from my perch. I'd escaped from the park a few moments after Ladybug's abrupt departure, after first thanking Alya for trying to help. Balanced on the wrought iron of a nearby rooftop, I wondered morosely how I could have made matters so much worse so quickly.

_Why had I said that? Not smart, Chat, though not unusual, I suppose. How do I fix this?_

The Bakery was not far from where I was situated, but dropping in unannounced felt like the wrong move. I'd checked earlier and the Bug Tracker on my GPS had gone dark, so I knew catching Ladybug for a chat was just as unlikely. I found myself hoping for an akuma just so I'd have a chance to talk to my partner, and then immediately felt guilty for wishing that upon Paris.

Shifting slightly, I watched the lights on the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes, deep in thought. I knew I loved Marinette, with all of my soul; I'd made my choice. Despite Ladybug's actions that day, introspectively reviewing my heart told me my feelings hadn't changed. There was no question I likely still had feelings, buried, for Ladybug, but I was ready to move on. I needed some way to prove this to Marinette.

My masked green eyes narrowed as one amazingly simply but incredibly complicated option popped immediately into my brain. _If she realizes I am willing to trust her with my secret, maybe that will convince her I was just tongue tied_, I thought, knowing that going down that particular pathway would risk the ire of my partner - or, my troubling, my ability to remain Chat Noir.

No, her love was worth the risk. The more I thought about it, my heart started to sing out that this was the right move. I pulled my baton out and leapt into the night, helicoptering into the inky darkness of the night.

A few rooftops later, I hesitated. Although the lights were on over the rooftop patio, but I was having second thoughts about my reveal to Marinette. Crouched on the brickwork, I'd nearly convinced myself not to go through with it when my feline ears heard the telltale _ziiing! _of a certain yo-yo. My head turned to the noise, and sure enough, Ladybug was lassoing her way across the night… and heading directly for the Bakery.

_That's odd. I wonder if she's also going to talk to Marinette?_

I laughed at that. I supposed both of us needed to apologize. I watched as Ladybug deftly dropped to the patio and trotted to the skylight; as she disappeared into the bedroom, I vaulted out and over myself, landing on my favorite chimney.

Marinette had to have heard me, for she was popping out of the skylight as I leapt down from the chimney to the railing. "Hey, Purrincess," I said, smiling. "Seems both Ladybug and I need to apologize."

"I saw the video," she said, nodding. "That was quite a performance, Chat."

"I'm sorry," I said, knowing I was wearing a contrite Chat expression. I even hung my head a bit, letting my bangs fall forward. "I don't know what Ladybug just told you, but-"

"Ladybug?" Marinette said. "I've not seen her tonight."

My head popped up, and I was sure my masked green eyes showed my surprise. "But… I saw her! Ladybug arrived just before I did."

_**Marinette**_

"Oh, that Ladybug. Yeah, we were just talking about how boyfriends who break up with you to try and be with another girl are the worst. Especially ones who do it on the live broadcasts instead of to your face. We agreed Chat. You are a major tool," I huffed, though I had only allowed a drop of her hurt and anger escape.

Chat gulped. "I-I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to say that. I don't want to break up with you," he pleaded,"please, it was just a slip up. A faux paw-a mistake." I noticed he forced himself to choke back the pun. This was not the time for that, and I was relieved that he wasn't going to make a joke of the situation.

"Chat, it's not about that. Even if you didn't intentionally want to hurt me, you thought of her when you went to profess your love. Your mind defaulted to Ladybug, not Marinette. And you have no clue how much that hurts me. I trusted you, even after all your stupid flirtin-" I panicked, realizing I had painted myself into a corner. "I mean all your flirting with Ladybug, I accepted your feelings for me at face value. I let myself LOVE you, you stupid, selfish cat. I ACTUALLY LOVED YOU."

I watched Chat's eyes widen, and he attempted to speak.

"I… I love you too Mari. And that's why I wanted to share this with you, to prove it. Plagg, claws i-"

"GET OUT!" I screamed,"I don't want to know your identity. If you think you can just hurt me, and then throw out your identity as some white flag of surrender, the answer is no. How many girls have you told your real name to, to get back in their good graces? HMM?!" I knew I went too far. I knew Chat treasured the secrecy of his identity, and that the only girls he had ever had eyes for were Ladybug and Marinette, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to hurt him back, to let him see how much I had suffered. And in my haste, I had revealed that I knew "Plagg, claws i.." was the phrase that detransformed him, but I was too angry to care.

"Please Mari, I love you more than anythin-"

And at that moment I went for the coup de grace. The fatal blow.

"Well too bad, because I could never love a liar."

_**Chat Noir**_

I felt myself recoil as if Marinette had physically slapped me across the mask. The depth of her anger surprised me, but maybe it shouldn't have. After all, I was in all probability on film somewhere stating how much I loved Ladybug. On repeat. Endlessly.

It had hurt that she'd thought my attempt to share my secret identity with her was a simple ploy, but not as much as the accusation that I had lied to her. Of all people, Marinette was the single person who knew me the best - and knew just how lonely I actually was. Although it was feeling a bit like my world had shrunken by one friend.

"Mari, please!" I pleaded, dropping all Chat pretense. "I need-"

"_Get. Out. Now!_" she screamed at me, which was enough to have me vault to the railing backwards.

"Princess-"

"_NOW!_"

Holding back my own emotions, I nodded and fell backwards into the night. Not really knowing what to do or where to go, I simply used the baton to land, gently, on the sidewalk below the Bakery, and then started to walk.

And then I stopped.

_We were just talking_, she'd said.

Ladybug _had_ been there. I'd been right all along.

Then my eyes widened in horror. Had Ladybug been listening in on that entire conversation? I turned and vaulted back up to the sky, hurriedly helicoptering back to certain doom atop the Bakery. But if there was even a tiny chance that that both of the women in my life were there, together, I might be able to salvage something. Or get one of them to see reason.

Marinette was no longer on the rooftop patio, but that only meant she'd likely returned to her bedroom. I landed with a soft plunk on the tiles and tapped on the skylight, knowing I was pushing my luck. "Ladybug, if you are there, I need to talk to you." I paused a beat. "Actually, I need to talk to both of you."

"Go away!" I heard. That was clearly Marinette.

I leaned closer. "Marinette, I'm sorry, But you said Ladybug was with you-"

"She's _not_ _here_!"

My head popped up. I hadn't been gone that long, had I? "When did she leave?" I asked, pulling out my baton and flipping open the GPS tracker. I'd have to chase her now; if she didn't have too much of a head start, I might be able to catch her.

"You just missed her! Now GO AWAY!"

I frowned. The little bug wasn't appearing on my map. The baton had never lied to me-

_The baton had never lied to me. _

I sank to my haunches, multiple thoughts crashing down upon me, connections being made that I'd been blind to. And, despite the craziness of it all, I started to laugh.

_Marinette is upset I said I loved Ladybug. That _is _kind of funny. Because it looks like I do._

I kept laughing. This was actually kind of silly; but I also understood, now, why she was upset. At her core, I suspected she would feel like I could only love one or the other; the truth was, I loved _her_. Realizing she might hear me cackling like I had lost my mind, I stifled myself and wiped away the tears with a paw.

"All right," I called down. "I'm leaving. I'm going to… give you some space to think, 'kay?"

"Whatever! Go away!"

"I'll be back." I vaulted away into the night but didn't get very far before landing on a nearby rooftop in a crouch. By rights I should have returned to the mansion; it was late, I was tired, and I honestly had no idea what day it was any longer nor what was on my schedule for tomorrow (today?).

One thought kept running through my feline brain. I needed to fix this. There had to be a way to convince Marinette that I loved her - no matter what. Knowing that she wore the mask didn't change that in any way. I'd thought originally that revealing myself would do the trick; now, it felt like it was a last gasp effort that I needed to hold in reserve.

I thought about it more and realized this might not be a fixable-in-one-conversation kind of thing. I'd have to start from scratch (_Hah hah, nice pun, Chat_, I thought morosely), and get her to love me all over again. My ace in the hole this time, though, was she didn't know I knew her identity; I might be able to use that to my advantage.

Sighing, I turned and leapt into the night again, headed for home. If I pressed, maybe I could turn the ship in a few days; I couldn't live with either one of her personas being upset with me for any longer than that. If it came down to it, I'd reveal I knew her identity - and then share mine - if all hope looked certain to be lost.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

What little portion of the night was left after I de-transformed and pulled the sheets over my tired soul was spent staring at my bedroom ceiling. As much as I needed Marinette to come back to me as Chat, I knew I'd need to lean a bit on my alter-ego to prod her in the correct direction. It was a risky part of the plan I had in mind, for I was aware that she still harbored some feelings for him.

I smiled a bit tiredly, realizing I was now thinking of Adrien as my alter-ego - not Chat.

_When did that happen?_ I wondered. _I know I spend more and more time as Chat these days, but I never expected to swap positions like that. Go figure._

If Gorilla seemed surprised at my request to leave for Dupont earlier than normal, he gave no indication beyond his normal dour expression. I hurried up the steps of the school as the sedan pulled away, crossed the courtyard and bounded up the steps to our classroom. My intent was to be in place when Marinette arrived, and I was counting on her also having a sleepless night and arriving nearly as early.

When she appeared just a few minutes after me, I tried to hide my smile at having guessed her schedule correctly. I took it as a sign that I might be on the right track. Looking up from my tablet, I greeted her with a normal smile - not the megawatt model one. "Morning, Marinette."

She mumbled something and trudged up to her spot behind me, after pausing for just a moment at the base of the steps. For a long moment, I feared she was going to bolt from the room, afraid to be alone with me again; the last time it had happened, she'd enveloped me in a massive hug. It seemed like that had been a year ago now.

I turned around and watched her unpack her bag. "Is everything okay?" I asked carefully. I didn't have to add any concern to my voice - it was there naturally.

Those deep blue eyes looked up from her bag and locked with mine, melting my heart immediately. There was deep pain there. "You don't know?"

"No," I said. "I guess I don't," I added, desperately willing my face not to inflame. I'm terrible at lying, and it was even harder as tired as I was. I stood and came up a step to stand beside her. "Tell me about it," I prompted gently as I leaned against the desk above hers.

Marinette looked at me and made a decision. "Someone I care about… really care about... hurt me pretty badly yesterday," she said softly. "I feel as though they had led me to believe one thing, only to discover rather abruptly it was all a lie." Her eyes flicked up to the windows behind me. "Everything they said, everything they did. All of it."

"That sucks," I said quietly, knowing she wouldn't pick up on the subtext. I risked a compassionate hand to her shoulder. "People are complicated, Mari," I said, "and all of us have something of a… duality."

Her eyes snapped back to mine. "What do you mean?" she asked.

I smiled tiredly at her. "I'll give you a real world example. What did you think of me when you first met me?"

She started at that. "Adrien-"

"It's okay," I encouraged her. "Believe me, it's nothing I've not heard before."

"Well," she said, "I saw you as the famous model, as superficial as the billboards you adorned."

I nodded. "And now? Once you got past the pretty face?"

She paused again. "I know you have a heart of gold," she started. "You'd do anything for anyone, even if it's not in your best interest. Compassionate, smart… and a dear friend."

I smiled again. "And yet, I remain the famous model, right?"

She nodded. "I suppose so, yes."

"And you can still be my friend, even knowing that part of me?"

"Of course!" she said shortly. "What is your point, Adrien?"

I let my hand drop from her shoulder. "Only that sometimes we don't always see the 'whole' person - just one side or the other, and accidentally make some assumptions." I paused. "Talk to your someone," I encouraged. "Maybe the lie wasn't a lie after all; maybe, just maybe, there is a similar duality at play here."

Marinette frowned. "I kind of see what you're getting at," she said. "But I may or may not have led him to believe I never wanted to see him again."

_Ah! No longer a 'they' - now a 'him.' This is good, _I thought.

I stepped back down to my desk and turned back up to her. "I suspect if you asked, they would come. All I'm saying is that it's worth listening. I could be wrong - Lord knows I am most of the time - but you've lost nothing if you try."

She nodded, thoughtfully. "It's worth a shot," she said, "though I have no idea how to get ahold of him."

"Chat?" I smiled. "Put out cookies, I think. Somehow, I suspect he'll figure it out."

"Wait - I thought you didn't know!" she said accusingly.

I smiled the model megawatt smile. "I'm your friend, Mari. Of course I know - but my job is to help you get past your pain."

_Like always,_ I thought.

"Go easy on him?" I added, more for my own sake than any other reason. "I have to imagine he's feeling just as hurt as you are."

"Probably," she said, looking at me as she continued to unpack her bag. "Thanks."

"Always, purr-Marinette. Always."

I thought I saw an eyebrow go up at my admittedly intentional almost mistake, but our classmates had started to arrive at that point; I buried myself in the day, willing the clock to move faster so Chat could make his visit.

There was a lot riding on it. Hopefully Adrien had done enough to make just enough of an opening for Chat to sneak back into her heart.

_**Marinette**_

Rather than pay attention in class, I did what I usually did… stare at the back of Adrien Agreste's head. Although this time, I didn't really see him. The words he'd spoken to me swam around my head. Not just the advice that he gave, although that was sound, but the fact that he almost called me Princess. His talk of duality also seemed to have a good deal of subtext to it.

I was trying to picture Adrien with cat ears and a smirk, and it was surprisingly easier that I thought. I had a vague memory of Alya once pointing out their physical similarities, long ago, but I hadn't given her idea much thought… until now. I thought over what I knew about the two boys, and I started to think they may be the same person.

I started to contemplate ways to test my theory. My first thought was to drop some cat puns and see how he would react, however part of me wanted to take a huge step back. What if I were _right_? What if _Adrien _was actually _Chat Noir_? Is that a truth I could even handle? My internal panic must have shown on my face, because Alya leaned over to me and whispered, "Girl, are you alright? You look a little off."

Without thinking, the words, "I'm feline alright, just thinking." slipped out, and I saw Adrien stiffen out of the corner of my eye. Dragging my eyes back to Alya I added, "It's purrsonal." Alya gave me a funny look that said she'd corner me later, but the posture of the blonde boy in front of me told me that the two of us were going to have to talk first.

The bell rang for lunch, and as I was leaving, I grabbed one of Tikki's cookies out of my purse, and, without a word, handed it to Adrien, where he was talking to Nino. Adrien had suggested I put out cookies for Chat Noir if I wanted to talk to him, and I figured that was as good an indication as any. I heard Nino call down the hall after me, "Hey! Where's my cookie?" but I just kept walking.

I was halfway home when I heard the running steps behind me, as Adrien caught up. I just nodded at him, as he silently fell into step next to me. Once we got to my room, still without saying a word, I continued up to my balcony, Adrien scrambling up after me. I sat in the chair, and turned to face him. "You are, Chat Noir, right?"

He nodded, his eyes looking anywhere but at mine, when he stated, "You are Ladybug." There was no question in his voice, he knew. Absently I wondered how long he had known, and whether it was before or after he had announced to the world he was in love with Ladybug. I had a sneaking suspicion he had figured it out afterwards, when he saw me arrive home, and then deny that Ladybug was there. I nodded in confirmation of his statement.

"So", I said, voice hesitant, "Where do we go from here?"

_**Adrien**_

I looked at her and smiled hopefully. "Well I was thinking that maybe we could unbreak up? Maybe we could even see each other publicly as Adrien and Marinette?"

She gave me a soft frown; it seemed that she was still a little upset about how the tables had turned.

"Oh, so basically you're saying that because your secret identity is a model who wants for nothing that you should be forgiven of all your sins against me? Why did you even think of saying you loved Ladybug, did you even know I was both girls?"

I could tell that her seething had ebbed to a gentle broil, and I struggled to figure out why I had made my bone-headed mistake.

"Well, no, I figured out who you were on your balcony. It was too impossible that Ladybug came to visit you, disappeared in your house, then left AND detransformed in a couple minutes before I returned. That and you two girls have the same pretty eyes," I flirted sincerely.

Marinette seemed angered at my brazen attempts to win her over. "So you just cheat on me with me, find out it all works out, then admit you are a super-hottie, and expect forgiveness? What horrible mental illness do you suffer from that would make you think that's ok? WHY DID YOU SAY LADYBUG?!"

I turned to her, starting to become frantic. I started to toss out anything that came into my brain. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

"W-well, I - after the first question I was just trying to answer Alya. I had loved you… er um… Ladybug you. And the relationship- partners and friends-I thought we would have that forever…. And well I kept getting interrupted and well… It was her fault for not letting me finish."

That really got Marinette riled up.

"So you said something you shouldn't have, for a reason you haven't yet explained, and because my friend did her job, while trying to be a professional, it is now her fault that you hurt me? And I'm just supposed to forgive you?"

I knew at this point that I was in trouble. And that turned into even more frantic thoughts, that tumbled out of my mouth, completely filter free. I tried to think what had happened that had made me utter such blasphemy against Marinette.

"Soo….we were there, and you were there, but I didn't know that because I thought you were Ladybug. And a few months ago Ladybug you assaulted me with hugs and whispered she loved me, after-"

Marinette cut me off, but I barely registered her. "You heard that?"

"... having never shown any actual affection to me as Chat….and then when we were at the interview, Ladybug held my…."

I stopped as I realized what had happened. Suddenly I felt my blood boil as my previous statement seemed to pacify Marinette.

"Yeah wait a second. You knew I only thought of Ladybug as a friend, but you pursued for more before I started dating you as Mari. And fully knowing that the only physical affection you had previously ever really shown me was romantic, you still chose to hold my hand on live television. You tried to make me cheat! With you!" Every word that spilled from my lips made me angrier.

Marinette seemed to realize that she had not been an innocent bystander, but had in fact played the role of one of the primary reagents necessary for the volatile reaction that had occured.

"So what do we do about this? Maybe I'll stay away from girls who play with my heart," I said as I began to walk away, already regretting my decision.

"You messed up big time, Kid," I heard from my pocket.

_Yes. Yes I did._

_**Marinette**_

Oh no! I DID hold his hand as Ladybug, didn't I? I didn't even think about it. Usually, when we are together, we're in the middle of a fight, so any physical contact is incidental, but we were sitting together, on the couch, which I only ever do as Marinette. Holding his hand was just natural.

Adrien had only just made it to my skylight when I blurted, "You're right. I did it without even thinking. I'm sorry, Kitty, uh, Adrien." I sighed. You've told me that you feel more like yourself as Chat Noir, but I don't. Ladybug is this perfect icon that I could never be. Nor do I really want to be. I _am_ Marinette. Ladybug is who I have to be. You said you fell in love with someone who doesn't really exist. That's why I was so upset. I love you. Now I realize that I've fallen for both sides of you."

I watched Adrien stop, hand on the trapdoor that lead into my room. I watched the tension drop from his body and he really heard what I said. He came over and stood near me, close but not touching. "I love you, too. I do love Ladybug. She's my partner and my best friend, and I don't think that will ever change, but I think you're wrong. I also love Marinette, who IS Ladybug. You may not see it in yourself, but I see it in you. Your bravery, kindness, determination and sense of justice, that's Marinette, not Tikki. Marinette is our Everyday Ladybug, and you are Ladybug every day. Yes, people may put you on a pedestal and think you are perfect. I know what that feels like; people do that to Adrien all the time. I want to be by your side, whomever I am, whoever you are, I want to be there with you."

My eyes started filling with tears when he said this. I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close. "I love you too. You will always be my kitty, in or out of the mask. I just want to be by your side. No more secrets, alright? Together we can get through anything."

"No more secrets." He agreed. He leaned forward to kiss me, but then pulled back with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Come on. We'll be late back to school. We can discuss what to tell people later." With that, he threw me a wink, and dropped into my bedroom, disappearing from sight.

But not from my heart.


	22. Admirer

June 22: Admirer

_A/N: Hey y'all, Icarus here. So I guess the ending to Clumsy, while cute, was missing something. This chapter is my attempt to remedy it. I hope you like it._

_Ep: Yeah. Belgian Chocolate croissants. Everyone knows it's Chat's favorite._

_Ic: You mean everyone who has read your fanfiction?_

_CM: Pretty sure he likes passionfruit. But thanks for playing! _

_Disclaimer- Epcot97, Chubbyunicornmama, and DearestMrIcarus are not not not the sole owners of Miraculous Ladybug and all affiliated characters. (But we're willing to play them on TV!)_

* * *

"Hey, Marinette, can I ask you a question?" Chat inquired.

She looked at her boyfriend of just over 6 months, wondering where this could go.

"Ok, Kitty."

"So there's this girl-"

"Um, excuse me? Unless that girl is me, you had better not be talking about her."

Marinette watched a smile spread across his face.

_If only you knew Purrincess._

"Don't worry Purrincess, you're the only girl I have eyes for. Anyhow, we've been friends for a really long time… actually it's like she used to be this big admirer of mine. She supported me with everything, always made me feel welcome. Even special. And then recently it all just stopped, and I'm scared that she doesn't want to be my friend anymore."

Marinette looked at her Kitty's sad eyes.

"Chat, you really don't get it, do you? She had a crush on you! She wanted to make out with you, and when she saw she didn't have a chance, she gave up on trying to impress you."

"No, Mari, you've got it all wrong. We were just friends."

_Of course, ever since your little bonfire for whatever his name was, we've been a lot more than friends. Wow, I can't believe it's been more than half a year since that happened._

Marinette stared at him introspectively. "Well since you're not as dumb as another blond I know, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you really want to get this girl's friendship back, you've got to become her admirer."

"Huh?" Chat asked, confusion painted upon his face.

"Ok, what kind of things would she do that made you feel like she was such a great friend?" Marinette asked.

"She would get me treats… my favorite flavor of treats. And she snuck out with me once. And she always laughs at my puns," he proclaimed, pointing the last phrase at Marinette. He still found it funny that as Chat's girl she rolled her eyes in the same way Ladybug did, but as Adrien's friend she cackled hysterically at his lame puns.

"Well then. Do you know her favorite flavor of snacks?"

"No…"

"Have you ever snuck her out of her house?"

"No," _at least not as Adrien._

"Do you laugh whenever she tells a lame joke?"

"Hey! My puns are great. But I get what you mean Purrincess."

"Ok, good. So become her admirer."

"Become her admirer," Chat said, half mesmerized by the idea.

"Yep, that's all it takes. And report to me every time you see her... I want to make sure that you're keeping up with your commitment," she added hurriedly.

Chat grinned. "Are you jealous mon trésor?"

"No," she pouted.

"Good," he said scooping her in his arms and placing a kiss on her nose,"because you can trust me when I say you have _nothing_to worry about."

The next day Adrien smiled as he entered the class. He walked up to Marinette and offered her a single rose, with an angelic smile, and then walked to his seat, silently.

He had considered going with red, purple, or coral, until he had remembered that the goal of wooing his princess while he was outside of the mask was to return to her good graces as Adrien, so that when the day came to reveal his identity, she would be happy to find her lover was also her friend.

And so, for now, he had chosen pink; a color that conveyed admiration, and a recognition of her inner beauty, without openly displaying his romantic feelings for her.

The class gasped, much to Adrien's surprise. He couldn't make out the whispers, but he could hear them.

"Adrien finally realized his feelings for Marinette."

"Are they dating or something?"

"Ooh, I bet pink means romantic."

Alya turned to her best friend. "Did that really just happen?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, wasn't it nice of him?"

Alya shook her head. "Nice?" She questioned,"no, nice would be saying, 'you look pretty today Marinette.' Not giving you a flower in front of everyone."

"Alya,"Marinette countered,"everyone knows pink flowers are admiration, and inner beauty. If he had wanted to say something romantic, he would have picked that color. Everyone knows giving a pink rose is completely platonic."

However, based on the whispers the teens exchanged, it was not, in fact, well known to the class.

"Besides,"she reminded Alya,"it doesn't even matter because I burned all his things. I'm 100% over him."

She turned to Adrien, who was sitting nearby.

"I like the roses. They're really pretty. I guess you could say you PINKED my favorite color," she giggled.

Adrien let out a chuckle himself. "Marinette, you're so funny."

Marinette froze. She wondered if it was possible that he really had developed feelings for her.

"Hey, we're friends, right Adrien?" She asked nervously.

"Of course! The best of friends!" He assured, which elicited a response from Alya.

"Hey! Watch what you're saying Agreste. She's MY best friend."

To prove the point Alya put her arm around Marinette possessively.

Adrien smiled that Chat Noir grin of his and spoke before he could stop himself.

"Ok, fair, fair. I'll give you Nino if I can have Mari?" he teased, holding his hand out.

Alya seemed to forget her friend's plight, and shook it, letting go of Marinette, whose face was now a deep red.

The day seemed to go by without another incident. After school, Marinette climbed up her balcony, half hoping to escape the world and enjoy the solitude her terrace provided, and half hoping that a certain black cat would break her self imposed sequestration. And so she lay down on her deck chair, stuck between the two desires.

As it would happen, she was subjected to the latter.

"My Purrincess and one true love, waiting for me in the tower of her castle!" He exclaimed.

Marinette blushed at the brazenness of the claim.

"Chat. I missed you," she said, wrapping her arms around him as he crawled next to her,"purromise to never leave me again?"

He smiled at the pun and curled up next to her. "I swear it on my life, he mumbled as he curled up next to her, his arms securely wrapping around her.

"Chat? What are you doing?" She said as he closed his eyes and rested in the sunlight.

Like a cat, he flicked his eyes open, doing his best to look irritated, before closing them again.

"What does it look like? I'm snuggling up next to the girl I'm in love with," he replied nonchalantly.

"Um… in love? Chat, you've never said you loved me before."

He seemed to be barely lucid, trapped between her warmth and the afternoon sun's radiating heat.

"Oh, yeah. Marinette, I love you."

As she sat in shock, she tried to muster the strength to repeat the words.

"Chat?! We're still in school. How can you know you're in love?"

He continued to act disinterested, and Marinette wondered if he was actually sleepy, or just trying to downplay the emotions of the moment.

He groaned. "Yeah, I didn't think I would find love until I was in my 30s. I thought I'd explore the world, make friends, and learn some stuff, then settle down. But I found you already. And it's like the greatest thing in my life multiplied by 1000. The first time I thought I was in love, I daydreamed about… confessions and kisses. But with you it's deeper than that. I want to kiss you, and hold you, and love you, and protect you. Maybe one day we'll make this arrangement more permanent, and I can tell you my identity and we can start a family. We can live a happy life together, and one day we can babysit our grandkids. We can spend life as happy as can be. I know if I have you that I'll definitely be happy..." he yawned and leaned closer to her.

_Now or never, Dupain-Cheng. You have to tell him._

A soft snore cut through her thoughts. Chat had fallen asleep moments after confessing his eternal love for her.

She kissed his forehead and whispered between his ears and cat ears.

"I love you too Chaton. More than you can know."

Marinette knew that Adrien had struck her heart earlier that day. She hadn't recognized it then, but she did now, and she knew she couldn't let it happen again. Her heart belonged to Chat, and to Chat only.

That afternoon, Marinette woke from her chair, and grabbed Chat's waist. Or what should have been his waist. It appeared Marinette had been very much asleep, so much that her boyfriend had escaped with ease. In his place he left a pad of paper.

_Dear Purrrincess,_

_I realise in my state of somnolency I may have shared some incredibly purrsonal things in a rather matter-of-fact way. It seems like it was only days ago that I watched you burn the memories of a former love, and in the process, fell for you myself._

_Just know I am sorry if I unnerved you with those facts. I know it is soon, but I really do love you with all of my heart._

The next part had been meticulously cut out of the page, as if Chat had made a mistake, and edited the writing out completely.

_You are my Love and my best friend. I can't wait to see you again my darling._

_Chaton_

Marinette knew two things at that moment. She would be eternally in love with that cat, and she needed to know what he had dared to write in the missing paragraph.

She flipped the pad to the next page and gently scribbled on it, highlighting where her boyfriend had pressed down on the page with the pen. She could barely make out what he had written, but she read each word ardently.

_I know you when I'm not wearing the mask, and I'm trying to work my way into your heart as my other self as well, so that if the time does come where I become the luckiest guy in the world, you'll realize that it's not too hard to love me and the maskless man. But, even if you only love one of me right now, know that you have both Chat's and the other guy's heart._

She cupped her hand to her mouth as warm tears rolled down her cheek. It was only hitting her now how deeply Chat cared. He wanted to risk his identity just in the possible instance that they did get married, that she would be able to feel close to him as non-Chat and Chat.

And then the second wave of emotion hit her.

_He knows me outside of the mask._

The thought felt like electricity through her spine. Did he go to her sewing club? Was he part of the fencing team she hung around? Was he in one of her classes? Did he see her at lunch? Or at the bakery? Oh goodness. What if he was one of the employees her parents had hired?

What if he knew about her former crush on Adrien Agreste? After all, almost everyone did.

This was it. This was the end. Marinette knew she was going to die of sheer embarrassment. He probably knew about Adrien, and thought that she compared him to some model that she barely knew.

She felt like her world was falling apart in the coming hours. She helped her parents clean up the bakery, then cleaned her room, and finished the evening with homework and and a couple rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike III before heading off to bed.

The next day she got up, and prepared for the day. Usually her exhaustion was what held her back, but today it was horror. As soon as she left her home she would be exposed, knowing Chat could be anyone. He could see her at her most nervous, or when she did something clumsy (as if falling off her balcony in front of him wasn't bad enough).

She walked out of her home into the world, worrying even more. She knew she was late, and knew that eating breakfast was out of the question. She would just starve, as usual.

Worry again gripped her as she continued to walk towards her doom. Anything could go wrong. What if he stopped being in love with her when he realized how awkward she was? Or what if he got jealous of Adrien?

_No, that last one would never happen._

She entered her classroom only to be assaulted by the sweet smells of cinnamon and sugar and of strawberries. On her desk were two crepes on a dish, neatly rolled and drizzled with powdered sugar on the left and strawberry syrup on the right.

A single card lay on her table.

"Usually your stomach grumbles, and I can hear you tell Alya that you missed breakfast, so I spent all evening yesterday having my chefs teach me how to make crepes. I hope you like these fresh ones I made this morning. The left is cinnamon and sugar and the right is strawberry. -Adrien"

She turned to him, and saw a smile of anticipation.

"Listen Adrien, it was really nice of you to make me breakfast, but-"

His smile faded.

"I'm not hungry today."

As if to signal the statement as a lie. Her stomach let out a despairing groan.

She sighed. "Ok, maybe just a little," she said, while praying that Chat didn't see Adrien's affection towards her. She scarfed down the meal as the rest of her class looked at her in envy.

"Adrikins, when are you going to bring ME breakfast?" Chloe demanded.

"Yeah, I could use an awesome breakfast!" Kim added.

"The combination of aromas did have a particularly pleasing effect. I wouldn't mind some as well," Max chimed.

"Ooh, ooh! Me too!" Rose squealed.

Adrien reddened a bit. "Actually this was kind of especially for Marinette," he admitted.

Marinette choked on the last bite, before forcing it down. The rest of the class stared at him, mouths agape.

"Do you like-like Marinette?" Juleka asked, shamelessly breaking the silence.

"That's none of your business," Adrien replied, though he was a bit red.

Luckily for him, the teacher strolled in, an elderly man with a cane.

"Hello class, I'm Monsieur Moreau. I'm your substitute teacher, and I'm a deaf old man, so you'll have to speak loudly. I'm a bit different from most people my age. I know you guys are smart, so I expect you to work hard and know what to do, without some adult having to tell you," he shouted loudly.

The students were so shocked by the loud introduction that they practically forgot about the Adrien situation.

When school ended for the day, Marinette shot out of the classroom, hoping to get home quickly. Her dreams crashed as she felt a hand on her shoulder in the hallway.

She turned around, though she already knew who it was.

"Hey Adrien," she said sweetly, hoping she could escape him as soon as possible.

"Hi Marinette," he cooed in elated response,"can I walk home with you?"

Marinette froze.

_Maybe if I'm really still he'll forget about me._

She knew she was toast.

"Mari? You ok?"

"IHAVEABOYFRIEND!" She blurted out, in one breathless string of words. She took a deep gulp of air and looked Adrien in the eyes. "And we are completely in love with each other. So… if you were hoping that this," she gestured to herself then to him, "would turn into anything, you should probably move on."

"Marinette I was just hoping I could be your friend," he said.

"But you're already my friend," she countered.

"True. But we used to be really close, and then I just felt like you forgot about me a little while back. I just want to be close friends again."

Marinette froze. Thoughts and memories poured into her head.

_"I know you when I'm not wearing the mask, and I'm trying to work my way into your heart as my other self as well, so that if the time does come where I become the luckiest guy in the world, you'll realize that it's not too hard to love me and the maskless man. But, even if you only love one of me right now, know that you have both Chat's and the other guy's heart."_

_"We've been friends for a really long time… actually it's like she used to be this big admirer of mine. She supported me with everything, always made me feel welcome. Even special. And then recently it all just stopped…"_

_Adrien… he's not… no…_

Again she found herself frozen, this time completely unable to do anything. She felt herself breathing, though it turned into hyperventilating.

Adrien picked up on it and spoke. "Woah, sorry Mari. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I can leave right meow- I mean NOW! right now."

She lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into a broom closet.

"You're him!"

"No I'm not."

She couldn't help herself. She let her palm smash into his cheek.

"You're him!" She sobbed, half stating it and half begging Chat to confirm his presence.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag,"Adrien sighed.

Marinette grabbed the handle, and turned before leaving, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You knew it was you, but you just liked to play dress up, huh? It must've been funny watching me burn all those pictures, eh Adrien? Or should I call you Chat?!"

Adrien grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. She didn't pull away, but she softly punch his chest in rebellion.

"The funniest thing is I could have made all your dreams come true, Agreste."

Adrien processed everything in a split second of clarity, letting out a silent gasp.

"Because I'm L-"

Adrien held her even closer, thinking whatever she was about to say was an insult.

"Mari, I know you're upset, and it sounds like you just want to say anything to hurt me, but please listen to me first. I didn't know that I was your ex crush. I swear! Remember, when I said I wanted to get back in the good graces of an old friend? You were right. You did have a crush on me. I thought all the nice things you've done for me throughout the years have always been motivated by kindness, not romance. I never meant to break your heart. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone… and no matter what you say, that will always be true. So go ahead, say what you need to."

She let out a gasp, then stopped, tears streaming down her face even more violently.

"I'm Ladybug, and I'll love you for so long, even a Kwami will think it's a long time… no, I'll love you forever Kitty!" She said pressing her lips to his.

The kiss seemed to last forever until Marinette finally pulled away.

"So… I'm Ladybug. What do you think?"

Adrien laughed. "I can't believe I didn't notice. I even called you an 'everyday ladybug' years ago."

"Haha, yeah. I had really worried at the time. But like, what do you think?"

He shrugged. "I love you just as much, but now I admire you a bit more."

He wrapped her up in a deep hug.

"Marinette, marry me?" he whispered.

She turned to look at him. "Adrien, we're only 17."

"Yeah, and I'm not proposing, but please one day marry me. I purromise I'll always be your admirer."

She slid her hand into his and spoke before planting a passionate kiss on him.

"I will Kitty. I purromise that from right meow to the edge of forever, I'll always be your Purrincess and admirer too."


	23. The Press

**June 23: The Press**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. I have a sense of what this prompt was originally intended to be, but in true fashion, I've turned it on it's ear so we can watch as Marinette begins an intense campaign to find out who is hiding beneath those cute feline ears and mask - and how Chat attempts to tap dance his way out of danger. _

_ChubbyUnicornMama and DearestMrIcarus are signing us up for _America's Got Talent_ in the hopes that if our song-and-dance routine wins, we can use the proceeds to purchase a stake in _Miraculous_. I'm a little concerned, though, as my plane ticket hasn't arrived yet. Any day now, right, guys? Guys?_

_CM: Uh, Ep… You don't mind wearing this luggage tag on your wrist, right?_

_Ic: CM, don't you mean "first class tag"? Ep will get his own private room at the bottom of the plane without anyone disturbing him *wink wink*._

_CM: First class tag… of course!_

_Ep: Wow! An upgrade! I had to ride in the overhead compartment last trip._

* * *

It had begun innocuously enough during one of my nocturnal visits to the Bakery. Marinette had served up some of her father's amazing coffee - hand ground in the shop below us - and I was just about to take a sip when she asked me out of the blue, "How old are you?"

I paused the cup on it's way to my lips and smiled. "As old as you," I said.

"Seriously, Chat," she said, giving me a look that evoked Ladybug. "How old are you?"

I felt my masked eyebrow go up. "I just had a birthday," I said. "But let's just leave it that I'm a teenager, 'kay?"

"You did?" She pounced on that information. "When was it?"

"Princess, what's with the questions?" I said, somewhat defensive. "You know I can't tell you anything that might reveal who I am."

Marinette narrowed her eyes at me. "Would you date someone who wore a mask and skin tight suit without wanting to know who was beneath it?"

I felt myself flush a bit. I had wanted to do exactly that - with Ladybug. "Sure," I said honestly.

She sat back in her chaise, and I watched her from my perch on an upturned flower pot. A queasy feeling had started in my stomach as I watched her roll something around in her mind. "Well, so can I," she said, "and that has worked for me up to now. But I want to know who you are, Chat." She paused. "The _real_ you."

I swallowed. "Mon cherie, this _is_ me. I assure you, there are few differences between me and my alter-ego-" I stopped short, realizing from her grin that I'd played directly into Marinette's hands.

"Indeed," she said. "Very interesting."

I downed the coffee as quickly as I could without offending my host, and then leapt for the grateful darkness of the night, wondering how I'd extricate myself from this situation. But my next few visits to the Bakery didn't see any further probing questions, so I started to relax a bit.

That turned out to be a mistake when I finally discovered her discreetly following me after leaving the Bakery some nights later.

I had a terrible habit of dragging out my visit with her, and then hanging out on random rooftops after leaving just to delay returning to the mansion. I'd forgotten I'd told her that, but it came crashing back when I caught telltale pigtails trying to hide behind a tree below my perch. I sighed and tumbled off the roof and landed in a four-point crouch beside her. "Princess."

"Ah - Chat! Hi!"

"Out for a walk, are we?"

"Yes," she said, blushing in the darkness. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

I looked at the clouds and threatening rain. "Right," I said, raising a masked eyebrow she couldn't really see. "What are you doing, really?"

"Nothing," she said, without the slightest trace of irony.

I stepped close to her. "There are strange creatures out in the night, Purrincess," I said, tracing a claw down a shoulder. I felt her shudder at my touch and tried not to smirk. "You shouldn't be out here alone. I can't be everywhere, now can I?" I asked, leaning down with my most wolfish expression.

"Uh…"

"So," I said, pressing even closer and watching the blush creep up her face. "Were you actually trying to follow me home?" I smiled a bit wider. "Not that I would mind that, of course."

She shifted beneath my gaze. "Maybe."

I tried not to laugh. "Even Ladybug doesn't know where I live, Princess."

"Right," she said. Something flashed across her face and was immediately gone, but I'd seen it.

I brought her back to the Bakery and then, after triple checking she'd not followed me, returned to the mansion well past my bedtime. That contributed to the next mini-crisis, actually, since despite Nathalie's best efforts, I wound up being late enough for school I made the risky decision to transform to Chat Noir and fly over the rooftops to attempt to make it prior to first bell.

Being both tired _and _late, I didn't pick up Marinette on the sidewalk below our building until it was too late. I went sailing over her and landed gently atop the roof, then crept back to the facade to confirm my fear: she was still standing down there, and stared up at my feline ears for a brief moment before starting to dash up the steps to the courtyard.

I slid back down below the concrete and marble. I'd just inadvertently confirmed I went to school with her. I had a one-in-ten chance of making it to the classroom before she did; going home and calling in sick was not really an option, either. I tumbled over to the edge of the courtyard, and sure enough, Marinette had made a beeline for the locker rooms on the far side, correctly guessing one location where I might suddenly emerge in my civilian form.

I smiled beneath the mask. My odds were improving. I backflipped several times and then over the edge of the school to the side alley, landing in a crouch amidst the debris. Hurriedly, I de-transformed and raced around to the front of the school, pausing just inside to confirm that Marinette was still patrolling the lockers. Breathing a bit easier, I took the back stairs and was carefully ensconced in my seat when she barely arrived in the classroom before the bell rang.

My slightly-enhanced human ears heard her muttering to Alya that her plan was coming up short. That concerned me greatly: if she was getting help from her friend, the game would be ratcheted up a bit in the coming days.

I was proven correct in my suspicions that Friday. From the way Alya and Marinette had been buzzing all day, I knew they'd hatched up something, and discovered what it was as we headed for the exits at the end of the school day. "Adrien!" Alya shouted from across the quad as I'd tried to hurry out the door.

Sighing, I stopped and put my best model smile on, bracing for the worst. "Hey, Alya."

"Marinette's inviting everyone over for classic movie night tonight!" she said happily.

"Tonight?" I squeeked. Friday evenings were _my_ classic movie night with Marinette.

"Yeah! And get this," she said, leaning in conspiratorially. "Chat Noir will be there."

"He will?" I swallowed. "That's… great!" I looked over her shoulder and saw Marinette working the room. I quickly realized she'd invited the entire class… which meant that any absences would be dutifully noted and, I presumed, followed up on.

_Hmm._ I turned my smile up to nine, an evil plan forming. "Does she have enough space for everyone?"

"Uh," Alya faltered. "Well, I suppose-"

"I thought so," I said. "I'll host it at the mansion!"

"You'll… what?" her jaw dropped.

"Sure," I said, pulling out my phone and dialing Nathalie. "I've not had anyone over for a while. Father won't mind. And if he does," I winked, "he'll get over it."

It took a bit of convincing, but a few hours later, I had my entire class ensconced in the courtyard, with _To Have And Have Not_ projected up against a massive screen. The kitchen had prepared an appropriate movie buffet, with burgers, hot dogs and popcorn galore. I smiled as darkness settled in, preparing for the second act.

Marinette was looking a bit anxious, and I wandered over to her. "Marinette? Waiting for someone?" I asked slyly.

She leapt out of her skin at my voice. "Sorry," she said. "Yeah, actually. I have no way to tell Chat we moved the location for tonight," she said. "I'm not sure he'll find us."

"Oh?" I said, concern in my voice. "Does he normally meet you at the Bakery?"

"Yeah," she said. "I should run back-"

I tried to keep the grin off my face, for I was certain I'd thrown a monkey wrench in her plan. "Ok," I said, looking up at the movie. "It's just started - you won't miss much. Let me have Gorilla take you over - it'll be faster."

Before she had a chance to refuse me, I had the car already pulling up (since I'd evilly anticipated this eventuality). She continued to protest as I slid her into the backseat of the car and waved as she drove off. Once it had turned a corner, I made sure the crowd was thoroughly engrossed in the movie before dashing out the gates myself to find an alley to transform.

It was close, but Marinette found me casually twirling my tail in her chaise lounge when she burst through the skylight, completely out of breath from presumably running up the stairs. "Chat!" she said, gasping. "I'm so sorry - my classmate - hosted -"

I vaulted out of the chair and wrapped an arm around her. "Princess! You look like you ran a marathon. Here, sit," I said as I gently pressed her into the lounge. "Catch your breath."

Once her breathing was normal, she sketched in what happened. I tried to look like it was the first time I'd heard it, nodding along with the story. When she finished, I put a claw to my chin. "Well," I said, "I was really looking forward to some time with you this evening, Purrincess," I said, trying to sound a bit sad. That required some acting on my part, since I was more than a little ticked she'd tried to use Movie Night against me.

"You won't come?" she said.

"No," I said, pausing and narrowing my eyes a bit. "You also need to convince me that this wasn't another ploy to uncover my identity."

The blush on her face spoke volumes. "Chat-"

I slid onto the chaise next to her. "Marinette, I would like nothing more that to share my true identity with you," I said softly, cradling her head in a paw. "But I've made a promise to Ladybug that I won't break."

She looked at me, and I could see something in those deep blue eyes.

"I love you, Marinette," I said simply. "For now, it has to be as Chat Noir. I hope that's enough for you. For now."

Marinette put her hand against my paw. "Yes, Chat," she smiled. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to know so badly. But I understand entirely."

"Good," I said, leaning down and giving her a quick kiss. "I've got to run," I said as I rolled off the chaise, knowing I was pushing my luck back at the mansion. "See you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," she laughed.

I hurdled off the railing and hustled back to the mansion, dropping my transformation in the same alley and barely making it back to the crowd before Gorilla returned with Marinette. He never drove _me _back and forth that quickly; I'd have to talk to him.

Casually getting more popcorn, I carefully watched as Marinette scanned the crowd and caught my eye, smiling, and then moved over to Alya. I'd been smiling back, until I saw Alya start gesturing at Marinette, throwing a look at me from time to time.

_Uh oh._

Needing to know what they were discussing, I made my way across the crowd to them.

"...at least twenty minutes," Alya was saying to Marinette. "That might be enough time-"

"For what?" I asked, munching on a handful of popcorn.

"Ah, uh, well-" Alya sputtered. I'd been stealthier than I thought.

"Can I have a moment with Adrien, Alya?" Marinette asked.

Alya bowed out and I turned to Marinette, who had a very serious look on her face. It was enough to make me pause the next handful of popcorn halfway to its destination. "What?" I asked. "Do I have something in my hair?"

"No," she said thoughtfully. Unexpectedly, she reached up and… scratched, right where she normally would when I was Chat.

Right behind my (currently nonexistent) feline ear.

I couldn't help it - I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch before immediately snapping them back open and jumping back from her as if she were on fire. But the damage was done.

"Kitty," she said quietly, with a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

I groaned. "Ladybug is going to _kill _me," I said, realizing there was little to be gained in denying anything.

"Maybe not," she replied, eyes twinkling.

I hustled Marinette around the corner of the gate and away from the crowd. "Look, Princess, this is a big deal. You can't tell _anyone_ that you know who I am; it could put you into serious danger."

She continued to smile at me. "I can handle it, kitty," she said. "I've kept secrets before."

"Maybe," I started. "But this is diff-" I stopped, something in my brain clicking into place. "What did you call me?"

The smile grew wider. "Kitty."

_Not Chat. Marinette has never called me Kitty._

My eyes widened and then narrowed. "Seriously?" I breathed. "_You've_ been the one hounding me about keeping our identities secret, and then you pull this stunt?"

Those deep blue eyes looked into mine. "I thought it was time," she said simply. "I'm deeply in love with you, Chat, and I wanted to make sure I'd love _all_ of you. And you turned out to be right."

"About what?"

"There isn't much daylight between Chat and Adrien," she laughed. "Sure, you're a bit freer as Chat, but your core compassion, overflowing heart and willingness to help anybody is all there." She leaned up and kissed me quickly. "I apologize, but I had always intended to reveal myself to you as well. But you were frustrating the heck out of me; desperate measures were required."

I continued to stare at her, trying to realign my worldview with what had happened in the last ten minutes. Once my brain finally registered that the woman I loved was the woman I _had _been in love with originally, I couldn't help the smile that burst into being. "This has really happened, then."

"Yep."

I glanced over my shoulder to the movie party that was still going on. I frowned slightly, seeing Alya peeking around the corner. "How much does she know or suspect?" I asked.

"Enough," Marinette replied. "But I suspect I can persuade her to keep the secret, too."

"As Marinette?" I asked.

"No," she said thoughtfully. "It might be more effective as Ladybug." She paused, smiling slightly. "For a number of reasons."

"I'm not even gonna ask," I smiled.

"Probably for the best," she agreed.

"Wanna blow this joint?" I asked. "I know a rooftop with a stellar view of the tower, Milady." I leaned in toward her. "And I can snag a few goodies from the buffet before we go."

"What about the movie?" she asked. "You have guests!"

"They'll be fine," I laughed.

She took my hand. "All right, Chat," she said. "Let's begin, shall we?"

Seeing the coast was clear, we both transformed there on the street and sailed away into the night, aware of what had changed - and what hadn't. There would be some challenges ahead as we navigated our new reality, but in the end, I was glad she had pressed the point.


	24. Reveal

**June 24: Reveal**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. We had some fun in the last chapter with Marinette trying to unmask Chat; this time around, we're looking at the repurrcussions of Chat learning the idenkitty of Ladybug, and contemplating how to handle that information. This is another trio tag team effort with all that entails. (Hah! Three cat puns in one paragraph. I'm learning, CM!)_

_We emailed Zagtoons plans to build a theme park around _Miraculous_. I especially liked the hang glider ride based on Ladybug's yo-yo, but perhaps the pole-vault thrill ride using Chat's baton might need more work. We're still looking for Icarus after he tested it for us. _

_CM: Does this mean I can kill off a few people before he gets back? You know he never lets me have any fun. I could even make it one of those fake deaths that are all the rage on TV shows these days…_

_Ic: "these days"? Does that mean Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did it before it was cool?_

_CM: Not on TV..._

_Ep: *channelling Star Trek III* We're gonna get you a nice, long rest, CM..._

* * *

The akuma had hit in the middle of the school day. As Chat hurried back to Dupont after successfully helping his partner turn back another attempt to lay Paris low, he'd considered this somewhat normal, almost as if Hawkmoth knew that at least one of the Heroes of Paris was running low on excused absences. Chat assumed Ladybug was about his age and also, therefore, a student; he was less certain that she attended _his_ school, and all attempts to get her divulge any details on that point had been rebuffed firmly.

Still, he fantasized regularly that she might attend Dupont with him in her civilian form. Occasionally he even daydreamed that she was in his class - that he'd even been paired with her for a project, unaware of her alter-ego.

_What would she be like?_ he had often wondered. _I mean, aside from the fact that she'd have to be like Ladybug, right?_

Chat dropped down onto the rooftop of his school and quickly scampered to the edge, intending on sliding down a convenient downspout and flipping into the window he'd left open to the boy's locker room. He'd used this escape route frequently enough to know that at this hour of the day it would be empty, but he skidded to a cat-stop at the edge of the roof.

A maintenance van was parked below the window, and a worker had an electrical junction box open. Re-entering the school that way was out, and he only had a few minutes before the lunch period would be over.

Chat didn't panic for this wasn't the first time his primary route had been blocked; he had a backup plan, and he backflipped to the entrance of the rooftop stairway instead. Pulling the door open, he slid down three stories on the rail, using his claws to stay carefully balanced as he descended. Once at the courtyard level, he started to call for his de-transformation when he feline ears picked up the door to the roof re-opening.

Soft footsteps started down the stairs and he had no choice but to continue descending himself; the stairwell only went one level lower so he pressed himself as far into the shadows as he could. Chat Noir had no real reason to be in that stairwell.

But his masked eyes widened when he caught the polka-dotted covered legs that appeared through the metal slats of the stair treads. Even if he'd not recognized the costume, the chirping from her earrings told him he'd just confirmed one of his daydreams. He'd also worked with Ladybug enough to know that she took her position as a hero of Paris _very_ seriously, so this would be one piece of information he'd likely never speak of to anyone, especially her.

It would have to be enough that he alone knew.

He caught himself smiling at the thought, but before he could dwell too long on it, Ladybug mumbled something. In an instant, the stairwell was lit with a red flash of light, momentarily blinding him. Blinking to clear his vision, he saw that Ladybug had descended further into view and now had a hand on the door to the courtyard.

Except, it was actually Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The girl who sat behind him.

Every day.

Marinette opened the door to the courtyard very carefully. There was absolutely no reason for her to be in that stairwell, and she felt like there were eyes on her. She knew it was probably psychological, she was scared of being caught, so it felt like she was being watched, and she'd just transformed.

She stepped out into the courtyard, and hurried across it, noting that no eyes turned to look at her, unless they were offering a friendly greeting. She quickly ate a croissant, hearing Tikki crunching away at the cookies in her bag. As she reached the stairs at the other side of the courtyard, she felt an urge to look behind her. Turning, she saw Adrien exiting from the same stairwell she'd just come from. Her mind raced. Had he seen her? She was trying to watch him as she climbed the stairs. He was definitely looking for someone.

His gaze stopped on hers for a second, and her heart stopped along with it, he waved, but his gaze slid away and he hailed someone a few dozen yards past her: Nino, who was walking with Alya. Marinette took a deep breath and headed in the direction of her friends, too. It must have just been a coincidence. He must not have seen her. She'd keep an eye on him to see if he was acting oddly, but she thought she was in the clear. She straightened her shoulders, and caught up with her friends.

Internally, Adrien was panicking. Marinette had seen him come out of the door. She knew he'd seen her transform. There was no reason Adrien would be in that stairwell. She knew he was Chat Noir. He waved nervously at her, after all, he'd been scanning the courtyard trying to find her. He wasn't sure he wanted to let his lady out of his sights now. The panic on her face had his gaze moving on, and then he spotted Nino. His nice, normal, non-superhero friend, Nino.

The four friends were walking together, by the time they had arrived at their classroom, and slipped inside together, Alya in the middle of a story about the latest akuma, and the reports she'd got from eyewitnesses, Marinette only half listening. It wasn't until the teacher walked in that Marinette let out a little gasp when it hit her. Why had Adrien been in that stairwell? It only lead up to the roof, and was little used by the student population. There was no good reason for any student to be in there alone. As they settled into the afternoon of classwork, she started to consider how she might casually figure out why that blonde head sitting in front of her was in that stairwell. Marinette hated a mystery, and this one bore investigation.

For his part, Adrien was having immense trouble keeping focused on his schoolwork. Skipping lunch for the akuma was partly to blame (as his rumbling stomach attested to), but a cavalcade of thoughts drowned out any ability for him to pay attention to the teacher. Why had he been so blind? That amazing girl had been sitting behind him _the entire time_. He'd even called her their "everyday Ladybug" without realizing how close to the mark he'd been. Adrien was well aware, though, that suddenly turning and declaring himself to her would be a huge mistake; given how long he'd spent completely ignoring any attraction to her in his single minded pursuit of Ladybug, she had every right to assume he was only in love with her _because_ she was Ladybug.

Especially if she now knew he was Chat.

He was trying _not_ to think about the fact that she'd seen him exit the stairwell. But didn't he also have the opposite problem if his own secret had been revealed? While Marinette had long had eyes for Adrien, Ladybug had not given Chat the time of day. Which part of him did she love? And could she love Adrien, knowing he was also Chat?

He didn't even want to contemplate how badly it would go if Adrien-as-Chat tried to explain his feelings. At least, not without some careful forethought. For he knew without a doubt he loved _her_. The _whole _her. It would be necessary for him to make sure she understood that. The _how_ was currently eluding him, however; he was so focused on figuring that out, he jumped out of his fur when the final bell of the day rang.

Adrien could feel that Marinette had seen him startled, and hurried to collect his books; he wasn't ready to talk to her quite yet, and instead managed to engage Nino in an absorbing yet meaningless conversation all the way out to Gorilla and the waiting sedan. As he slid into the backseat, though, he realized that where Adrien fear to tread, Chat was willing to leap without looking.

Barring an unfortunately timed akuma, he had no planned meetup with Ladybug that evening, and decided to make use of his free time accordingly. After making certain Plagg had consumed a bonus amount of rare camembert as an apology in advance, he transformed to Chat Noir and escaped into the dark Parisian night to pay a visit to his Princess.

Chat found Marinette pacing her rooftop patio at the Bakery when he gently landed atop his favorite chimney. He'd been a semi-regular visitor to Marinette for some time now, so she had long ago become used to his random appearances. "Evening, Princess," he said as warmly as he normally did. "You appear to have a troubled mind."

She looked up at Chat and frowned. "Getting that from your enhanced feline senses, are you?" she asked shortly.

Masked eyes widening slightly, he laughed a bit to make light of the situation. "No. The empty plate of cookies, actually. And the hole you appear to be wearing into the tile."

That made her smile a bit. "Sorry, Chat," she said as he dropped to the railing next to her. "I'm trying to puzzle out something and it's harder than I thought."

"Lucky for you, I was just out looking for a puzzle to solve," he said, smiling but at the same time scanning her face. Chat was looking for any indicator that she knew his identity and was impressed at how close to the vest she was playing it. "I can't _claw_m I'll be helpful, but sometimes having a second set of feline ears helps."

Marinette laughed. "I don't even have a first set, Chat," she observed.

"Nevertheless…" he trailed off, helpfully cocking his head into a listening position.

Marinette looked at him and wondered how much she could actually tell him. She'd always assumed Chat was about her age, and attended one of the many schools in Paris; given how quickly he tended to appear when there was an akuma, likely one that was close to Dupont. Marinette hadn't considered until that moment that Chat's alter-ego might actually attend Dupont with her. She looked at him closely, trying to picture who the boy beneath that mask and wild mane might be. Unlike Ladybug, his eyes changed quite a bit when he transformed, so she couldn't really be sure that she'd be looking for a green-eyed blonde sans cute cat ears-

_Green-eyed blonde._

Chat saw the gears turning in Marinette's eyes, and his own widened a bit. _She didn't see me transform then_, he thought, _but she's starting to put it together._ "Purrincess?" he prompted, hoping to derail her.

Still looking at him thoughtfully, Marinette made a decision. "It's going to sound silly, Chat," she hedged. "But I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be today, and I think someone saw me."

Chat smiled his megawatt smile. "And you're worried about what they might think?"

"Partly." Her gaze notched up in intensity a bit. "I'm also wondering why they didn't say anything."

Tail twisting, Chat kept his smile while slowly unravelling inside. She'd just confirmed that she knew someone had seen her; did he know it was him? _And which him?_ he thought frantically, _For it makes a difference if she thinks it's Chat versus Adrien. Aaargh!_

"Maybe they… care about you. Enough that they want to protect you. And your privacy," Chat hastened to add.

Marinette had worked with her partner long enough to recognize what his tail movements meant; Chat caught her brief glance and tried not to groan. Why had he never made the connection between her and Ladybug? Waves of guilt washed over him, but he kept the smile going and hoped the conversation would turn in the direction he wanted.

It did not.

"So, Chat, how do you always get to my school so fast?" Marinette asked.

He froze. Whatever happened he would not lie to Maribug...Ladynette… his everyday M'lady? Whoever she was, he wouldn't lie… but perhaps he could be selective about the truth.

"Well, it is easy to get anywhere in Paris in a hurry when you have a stick that can launch you ten meters into the air in the blink of an eye," he said truthfully.

But it was to no avail, Marinette had his scent, and she was not ready to give up the chase.

"And where exactly did you go to leave once you beat the Akuma?" she questioned innocently.

He smiled, sure that he could easily dodge that question. "Purrincess, you should know that a cat never reveals their secret hideouts," he replied with a wink. But inside he knew that this was getting risky. He couldn't let Marinette find out who he was, or the fact that he knew her identity until she was certain his feelings were genuine.

As he realized this, a thought came to him. It would be risky, but if he could pull it off, it would draw attention away from himself.

"Hey, Marinette, can I tell you a secret?"

She grinned victoriously. "Sure."

"So I can't tell you who, but apparently one of your classmates saw Ladybug transform today. So someone at your school knows Ladybug's identity. I just had to tell somebody. Ladybug is going to kill me."

Marinette froze. She stared at him as her thoughts fell apart. Obviously it was Adrien who had seen her, but she had started to think that he and Chat were the same person. But if Adrien knew, then did that mean Chat knew? But he didn't or else why would he tell Ladybug that Ladybug was going to kill him? But there was still the question of why Adrien was on the stairway.

"Did he-or she tell you who Ladybug is?" she asked nervously.

Chat could tell he had led her away from the danger zone. "Nope, we didn't really have time to chat about it. I think he's the only purrson that knows her identity, and I think he plans to keep it that way."

Marinette heaved a sigh of relief, realizing that for some reason Adrien and Chat had met on the roof. But the victory was short lived. Almost instantly it felt as if the air thickened like concrete in her lungs. The love of her life, Adrien Agreste, knew that she was Ladybug. Knowing that felt like a shot of adrenaline had been forced into her veins.

"Who-who is it?" she asked.

"I told you Purrincess. I can't tell you," he smiled.

"Was it Adrien Agreste?" She queried.

"Who knows," Chat said nonchalantly, as he subconsciously kissed her hand and threw himself off the building, disappearing into the city.

"Hopefully that should buy me enough time to win her heart," he thought to himself.

Marinette spent rest of the night restlessly contemplating how to confront Adrien. It was a dual edged sword: she had long had trouble even _talking_ to him coherently, so trying to pry information from him would require more intrepidity than she thought she possessed. But the legerdemain required to keep her secret a secret might also be beyond her abilities; and she couldn't even convince herself that she _wanted _to keep her identity a secret from Adrien.

The duality there - that she steadfastly refused to share with Chat, but was more than willing to spill her guts to her crush - troubled her greatly. Chat meant something to her, and she couldn't deny that. Recently, she'd realized that his feelings for Ladybug went beyond the nightly flirting, adding a dimension to her partner that she'd essentially assumed wasn't there. In the end, she hauled herself to school after a sleepless night, determined to get some answers.

From someone.

Adrien arrived in their classroom the next morning to find Marinette's intense gaze on him from nearly the moment he opened the door. He smiled at her as he slid into his seat and unpacked his school books; after he'd returned to the mansion the previous evening, he'd inadvertently spent the better part of the night refining his plan. It relied heavily on the early going being handled by Chat, so he cheerfully channeled his clueless-Adrien persona as he turned toward her.

"Marinette-" he started.

"Do you know Chat Noir?" she blurted.

He paused. "In what sense?" he hedged, knowing immediately that it had been a mistake.

Marinette's eyes narrowed. "You _do_ know him. I won't ask how." She seemed to be considering something and then asked, pointedly: "Were you in that stairwell yesterday?"

Nonplussed, Adrien faltered slightly. He saw the color rising in her face as she looked at him expectantly and knew his own face was mirroring the effect. "I waved to you, didn't I?" he said, laughing nervously and trying to resist scratching the back of his neck. "So I guess that would be a yes."

"Were you on the roof?" Marinette asked pointedly. "Meeting Chat?"

Had he _been _Chat at that moment, Adrien likely would have somersaulted his way out of danger.

_So much for throwing her off my scent_, he thought morosely. _But I can't lie to her! I arrived at Dupont before she did, but clearly she only saw me when I exited - as Adrien. I can't say I was on the roof - why would Adrien be there? Or can I? Aarrrrgh!_

Swallowing slightly, he tried for his megawatt smile and only managed a slight upturn on one side of the face. "You caught me, Marinette," he said, narrowly avoiding calling her Princess. "Chat asked me to do him a… favor."

"Favor?" she pressed.

"It was of a personal nature," Adrien said, and this time he did scratch the back of his neck.

"Did you… see anything while you were in the stairwell?" Marinette asked. She wasn't sure if her tiredness had blocked her normal timidness around Adrien. Or if her certainty that he knew her secret had somehow emboldened her.

Adrien stared back at Marinette, stalling for time. "I-"

Marinette groaned. At the worst possible moment, Ayla appeared at the door, followed closely by her boyfriend, Nino. They were engrossed in an… intimate conversation, but it was enough of a distraction for Adrien to turn away from her and bury himself in his tablet. Not to be denied, Marinette whispered: "I'm not finished with you, Agreste."

She smiled when she saw him tense up slightly, then frowned: she didn't think he'd have heard her. But no matter.

Fates worked against her, however, and Adrien managed to successfully avoid her for the rest of the school day, and merrily waved to her as he practically dashed down the steps to his waiting sedan. That in itself was some sort of proof: he was not known for wanting to go home willingly. She just didn't know what sort of proof it might be.

Much later, she was working on her homework when she heard the telltale rubbery thump of her irregular visitor on the rooftop patio. Her mind wasn't really on her calculus problems, so she quickly pushed her way through the skylight to find Chat Noir perched in his usual spot atop an upended flower planter. "Evening, Purrincess," he said brightly.

"Chat," she smiled. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I was feline like company tonight, and your balcony has the purrfect view of the moon," he said, smiling. And he was right: the full moon was just coming up over the horizon beyond his shoulders, a blazing white orb chasing away the night shadows. Marinette was actually drawn back to his smile, though, for it was truly genuine this evening - not one of his classically cheesy Chat smiles. It was softer, more personal. Like he had actually been looking forward to seeing her.

Seeing Marinette.

Filing that away, she stepped toward the railing facing the moon, and Chat easily leapt to spot next to her, tail swishing. "So," she said. "You know Adrien, then."

Chat nodded and sighed at the same time. "I do, Princess." He turned to look at her, his bell gently dinging with the movement; she hardly ever heard it when they worked side by side together against Hawkmoth, and suddenly found it enthralling.

"I saw him this evening, actually," Chat continued, turning back toward the moon. "You rattled him pretty badly."

"I… did?"

"Yes," Chat said, and he sounded to Marinette like he was crestfallen. She looked over and saw his ears had actually wilted slightly. "He was pretty upset with me, for he thinks I shared his secret with you." Chat turned again, his wide emerald eyes searching hers, but also filled with something she couldn't quite place.

"I couldn't lie to him, and I can't lie to you. He did see Ladybug transform. And now he's worried about you knowing he knows." Chat shook his blonde mane, causing his bell to ring out again. "He cares about Ladybug just as much as I do, Marinette. He's sworn to me he'll protect the secret, and I believe him."

"Chat…" Marinette said, multiple emotions competing for her attention.

Chat rolled off the railing and stood next to her, placing two gentle paws on her shoulders. "I trust you, Marinette. It's why I told you in the first place." He continued to smile, warmly. "Adrien understood your passion, but you should know how fiercely he'll guard the knowledge." He paused. "For as it turns out, he cares deeply for Ladybug. In both her guises."

Marinette stared at Chat. _Really _stared at him. "Both?"

"Both. Or, if you prefer, the _one_."

She was glad the railing was behind her, for she would have stumbled backwards otherwise. Adrien… cared for her? For real? Marinette looked up at Chat's gentle expression, and saw acceptance in his eyes. And the certainty in whatever Adrien had told him.

Marinette sighed. Adrien knew. She had a feeling that if Adrien knew, Chat would probably try to wheedle it out of him at some point. Not that she didn't trust her kitty, but she knew that temptation can get the best of anyone. She resolved to herself to talk to Adrien tomorrow, in as non-threatening a way as possible.

The next day at school, she approached Adrien. Without a stutter, although she was more nervous than usual, she asked if she could speak with him in private during lunch. He readily agreed, maybe a little too eagerly, considering his avoidance of her the day before, but she offered to host him at the bakery for lunch.

Lunchtime rolled around a little sooner that either of them were quite ready for, and they headed over to the bakery. Marinette's mom greeted the pair as they entered, offering lunch and croissants, which they happily accepted. They took the food up to Marinette's room, and were quiet for a while why they ate. Finally, Marinette broke the silence. "So, uh, you were in the stairwell the other day."

Adrien nodded, only sort of knowing the direction this was going to take. Marinette continued with her questions. "What exactly did you see?"

Adrien squirmed. Not wanting to lie to her, especially since he (or at least Chat) had already told her that Adrien had seen Ladybug transform back to her civilian self, he hesitated, and then said so softly it was almost inaudible, "I saw Ladybug turn into you." A blush stained his cheeks, and he wouldn't meet her eyes, but heard Marinette take a shaky breath.

"You know that you can't tell anyone about this, right? Even Chat Noir?" When he nodded, Marinette continued, "I know you've already told him that you saw Ladybug. I am fairly certain you told him that I am Ladybug." When Adrien blanched, she hurried on, "Just from the way he was talking to me. I am curious, though, what is your relationship with Chat?"

Adrien finally met Marinette's gaze. "I would say that we are pretty close."

Not liking how vague his answer was, Marinette pressed, "Exactly how close? Do you know who he is behind his mask?" At some point, a spark of an idea had taken root in Marinette's mind. Over the past 24 hours, it had grown, and she was fairly certain that the same boy who had visited her balcony last night wearing cat ears and magical leather was, in fact, sitting with her, right now, trying to evade the question about how close he was with Chat Noir.

Hedging around the question, Adrien said, "I wouldn't really want to say anything about that without him being here."

That was all the opening that Marinette needed. "I think we could arrange that. Are YOU Chat Noir?" She asked, pointedly, not allowing him to wiggle away from the question.

"Hahaha, Marinette, you're so funny," he laughed, hoping that she would buy it.

She continued to scrutinize him with a glare, and he offered a nervous smile. Thoughts streamed through his mind.

"Oh man. That would be awkward," he teased, which only made Marinette look at him even more searchingly.

"What do you mean Adrien?" She questioned, clearly confused.

"Well, imagine this," Adrien said, looking down at her door to make sure her parents weren't going to pop up, as they had a tendency to do,"You are Ladybug… Chat Noir loves Ladybug… you don't like his flirting, because there is another guy. Basically I would have to awkwardly confess my love to you if I were him. Because that's just the Chat thing to do. And honestly I would rather share my feelings with Marinette than Ladybug… er you know. Because I know you, and I don't really know Ladybug as well."

Marinette froze. A million things ran through her head, namely that it sounded like Adrien was saying he had a crush on her. But something was bugging her.

"Another guy? Who said anything about another guy?" She questioned. She was sure she had told Chat on multiple occasions that there was someone else, but she had never told Adrien that.

Adrien felt his heart stop. He knew it was something Ladybug had told Chat, and not Adrien, but he was worried about something else now. Who was Marinette's mystery boy? And suddenly the answer hit him like a sack of bricks. Of course, it was so obvious. Adrien couldn't believe how blind he had been.

"Yeah, it's obvious who you have a crush on, Marinette. I think half the school knows," he lamented.

Now it was Marinette's turn to worry. If Adrien knew about her crush on him, then that meant he had intentionally avoided reciprocating her feelings for him.

"Oh?" She said weakly, now on the defense,"and who might that be?"

Adrien felt all his resolve to hold his secret leave him.

"Yeah. I know who you like. It's funny if you think about it. I've spent all this time falling deeper and deeper in love with you, but being rejected by Ladybug at every turn. And now I know who you really are, and you're just as amazing without the mask… and my chances are just as slim with you now as they were when I was Chat and you were LB. But now I know the guy who is ruining my hope of being with the girl of my dreams. Luka."

Adrien ran to the door, exiting before tears streamed down his face. Of course she was in love with Luka. She had tried to tell Chat so many times that there was someone else, and when he had seen her transform into Marinette, he had completely forgotten about that detail.

Marinette tried to call out for him, but her voice failed her. Adrien was Chat… and Chat loved Ladybug… and now apparently AdriChat… Chat Agreste… whoever he was loved Marinette. But somewhere along the line she had confused him and he was now convinced that Luka was her love.

Marinette sighed, and her Kwami slid out of her hiding place in Marinette's purse and appeared at her side.

"Well Tikki, at least I know that Adrien is Chat and that my secret is safe. But… Luka? I dunno why he thought that."

The pair gazed out the window, wondering how to approach the sensitive situation.

Adrien flew down the steps and past a surprised Sabine in the residence kitchen, then down further and out the side entrance. Tears blurred his vision as he berated himself for not seeing the obvious; he rushed through the door and dashed across the street and just continued to run, trying to put some distance between himself and the heartache.

Oblivious to the stares of the Parisians who recognized him, he continued onward blindly until he found himself at the end of a blind alleyway. Some subconscious portion of his brain knew he needed to get away from everything, and how best to accomplish that. As if on automagic, he called for his transformation and then clawed his way up to the skyline of Paris as Chat Noir.

Once above his troubles, some semblance of normalcy returned to his feline brain. And now that he thought about it, he couldn't really blame Marinette. As Adrien, he'd completely ignored her feelings; as Chat, he'd made more progress, perhaps, but his focus had always been on Ladybug. She deserved someone who valued her - all of her - and he had to admit, from what he'd seen of Luka's interactions with Marinette, he had the kind of compassionate soul that would perfectly match her own.

Chat (or Adrien, rather) had simply missed the boat.

Heaving a massive sigh, he continued to helicopter and vault his way to nowhere in particular. Normally when something weighed on his mind, he'd turn to Marinette; since that avenue had been closed to him, he'd have to -

In what had to be the strangest karma-based coincidence the universe had ever seen, Chat happened to be sailing over one of the busier thoroughfares in the city and caught sight of a certain blue-haired individual. Turning fully as he helicoptered, he saw his replacement on the edge of the curb, preparatory to crossing; but he was so engrossed in whatever he was listening to on his earphones, Luka was oblivious to the city bus barreling across the intersection.

Without thinking, Chat dove toward Luka, catching him in the midsection and quickly coiling around him to roll the two of them away from the horn-blaring bus. Chat took the brunt of the impact and rolled out against a bush; Luka sat in front of him, somewhat dazed.

"Chat?" he said. "What was that about?"

Dusting himself off as he stood, and then offering Luka a paw, he said: "I had a feline you weren't interested in becoming a Luka Pancake today." He paused, and before he could stop himself, added somewhat bitterly, "Especially since you have someone to live for."

Luka eyed Chat. "We _all_ have people to live for," he said. "Even you, Chat."

Chat tried to laugh. "Don't worry about me, Luka," he said. "I've got a whole city to worry about. You focus on Marinette."

"Marinette?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know what you've heard, Chat, but she's a good friend and collaborator. But I've long known she has eyes for another."

Chat stared at him. "That's not what-"

Unexpectedly, Luka put a hand on Chat's costumed shoulder. "Soulmates are hard to come by. When you find one, you hang on to it."

Chat continued to stare, feeling that perhaps his jaw had dropped to the sidewalk somewhere along the line. He'd seriously mischaracterized Luka; his compassion for others ran far deeper than he realized. As Adrien, he'd need to find a way to get to know him better - seeing if that keyboard position in Kitty Section was still vacant would be a good first step.

"That's deep," was the best Chat could come up with, but he followed it up with the first genuine smile he'd been able to muster in a few hours. He shook Luka's hand with one paw, and added as he pulled out his baton: "And thank you. But please, no more near misses with traffic, 'kay?"

"No promises," Luka laughed. "But I'll try."

Chat turned to vault away and then turned around again. "What were you listening to, anyway?"

Luka colored a bit. "You'll laugh."

"Try me."

"_Just Around The Riverbend_," he said.

Chat's eyes widened. "From _Pocahontas?_ Deep, man; deep." He extended his baton and vaulted away, headed back to the other person he had seriously misjudged.

Knowing exactly where he wanted to go, Chat easily danced across the rooftops toward the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It hadn't been a long conversation with Luka, but sometimes pearls of wisdom came in small doses. Or from blue-headed boys who were wiser than their years. Chat's heart cautiously started to sing once more, and the music grew louder with each city block he crossed on his way to his Princess.

Marinette saw him approaching from her position against the wrought iron railing. Intuitively, she'd known that he'd return; it had been Ladybug Luck that she'd happened to be facing the correct direction. Tikki had been some help, at least as far as she'd been able to go; as Chat's form grew, she still wondered how to repair the damage she'd somehow inflicted on her partner.

_No - _ she thought suddenly. _He's not just my partner. And not _just_ my friend. _

Chat's graceful landing exactly next to her on the railing pulled her attention back to the here-and-now. "Milady," Chat said quickly, rushing forward for fear Marinette might cut him off. "I've been trying to tell you now in my own way how I feel for you. I made an assumption earlier, and didn't hear you out."

She saw the hopefulness in his eyes and nodded.

"Marinette, you're my entire world. And have been for some time. I've just not had the courage to tell you; accidentally seeing you transform only complicated matters greatly for me."

At that, her eyebrows shot up. "How so?"

Looking worried, Chat plunged forward. "Once I knew, I had to figure out a way to tell you I loved _all_ of you - that I wasn't suddenly falling for Marinette _because_ she was my dream girl." He laughed nervously. "Well, actually that part is true. What I mean is, I didn't want you to think-"

"That you loved me _because_ I was Ladybug?" she finished for him, nodding slowly.

"Exactly," he said, searching her eyes with his masked emerald ones. "I thought I was making some progress, and then I misunderstood what you were saying earlier."

Marinette smiled slightly. "Luka is a friend - a _good_ friend, but nothing more."

"I know that now," Chat replied, with a smile that told Marinette something had changed for Chat with respect to Luka. "Of course, that was just one of my worries."

Marinette nodded again. "You're concerned about how I feel about you? Now that I know you're Chat?"

Chat picked up on the fact that she'd reversed the names. "Yes," he said. "In my pursuit of you, I missed all the signs. As forever sorry as I will be for that, I can understand if you can't - _won't _\- accept me. _All_ of me."

He'd hit the nail on the head. Trying to reconcile the existence of AdriChat (_Was that even a name?_ she wondered) with her feelings for the two personas he possessed should be difficult for her. But it wasn't. Much as Chat had realized her two halves were of the same whole, she could see the same was true of her Kitty.

_My Kitty. I could get used to that concept_, she realized abruptly.

With every second that Marinette didn't eject him from her rooftop patio, Chat's hopes grew larger. He watched as she considered him intently, from his cat-ear topped mane to that tail of his that was twisting with anxiety. Had he said enough? Had he said too much?

"I do," Marinette said quietly. "I accept all of you, kitty. Now get down here and kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice. In a split second, he was beside her, and gently pulled her toward him, leaning down and tentatively pressing his lips to hers. She leaned in and added some sizzle - enough that his cat ears reflected his happy state of bliss. It had the feel of two people who'd been separated by time and distance for too long, both trying to make up for the loss.

Chat lost track of how long they were holding each other, pulling back only when Marinette moved to nestle her head into his costumed chest. He'd dreamed of that moment for longer than he cared to admit. It couldn't have been more purrfect.

And then his stomach let out a loud rumble, reminding him that they were _supposed_ to be on lunch hour, and that he'd eaten hardly any of what Marinette had served. He felt her trying to stifle a chuckle. "I don't suppose you have any cookies left?" he asked hopefully. "Or a croissant?"

"I do, kitty," she said warmly. "Wait here and I'll grab them. But you'll have to eat in a hurry - we're gonna be late for class. Better yet. Meet me out front as Adrien, we can walk back to school together while we eat."

It was only a minute or so before Marinette found Adrien outside, but it felt like they had been separated for months. Marinette raised herself up on her toes, to give Adrien a chaste kiss before handing him a bag full of croissants. "I put some cheesy bread in there, too, if Plagg would eat that."

Adrien smiled at her thoughtfulness. "He'd love that, Bugaboo. Thank you."

The pair headed back to school, hand in hand, once Adrien had finished his food. They walked to their classroom together, and Adrien dropped a kiss on the top of Marinette's head, before heading to his own seat. He'd barely taken a step, however, before the cheers and cat-calls from those of his classmates who had witnessed his behavior started. Both teens blushed scarlet, and realized they'd perhaps revealed more than they'd intended to their classmates. They glanced at each other, and realized that neither of them cared all that much. They smiled shyly at each other, and Adrien leaned over for a quick kiss before the bell rang. Unfortunately his luck ran true, for at that moment, Alya and Lila stepped through the door, both girls having dramatic and opposite reactions to what they saw. For Marinette and Adrien however, the only person that existed was their partner.


	25. Hiding

**June 25: Hiding**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. Over the past two months now, we've pretty much proved that Chat is a connoisseur of baked goods - especially those made by Marinette. We've also established that he can detect a freshly baked cookie from several blocks away, so it got me to wondering what might happen if Marinette inadvertently kept moving a baking sheet on him, forcing an impromptu hide-and-seek._

_I found an interesting eBay auction from a user named KwamiOfDestruction. They claimed to be selling stakes _Miraculous_ but the currency was a bit odd - I'm having trouble converting dollars to Camembert. That and the vintage requested is a bit hard to find. _

_Ic: Ep, too late anyways. Apparently a user named NotAKwamiTikki reported the sale because it was against Ebay's "terms and conditions". (Ic sobbing)_

* * *

The smell hit my nose about seven blocks from the Bakery - freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies, with dried cranberries, if I wasn't mistaken. It made me smile and speed up slightly, for I knew Marinette was trying out several new recipes in preparation for a bake sale at school and I had been her beta tester. Fortunately, my cranked metabolism had proven to be especially helpful given the numerous dozens of cookies I'd studiously munched on for her over the past few evenings.

I unconsciously sped up, and landed on my favorite chimney atop the Bakery. The exhaust from the ovens was divine, but also crowded out the original oatmeal raisin I'd detected. I looked around and surprisingly Marinette was nowhere to be seen. I vaulted down to the tile and started to sniff; the tangle of smells was hard to separate this evening, but - there! I was able to locate the oatmeal again.

Flipping over the edge, I clawed my way down the side of the Bakery to the kitchen door. It had been propped open, and I flipped through it, landing in a crouch. By this point, Sabine and Tom were so used to my appearance that short of smashing through their plate glass windows, they generally didn't react any longer to the novelty of a human-sized cat. "Hey guys," I said from the floor. "Is Marinette around?"

From the impressive amount of material out and about, they appeared to be prepping for a massive catering order, which explained the variety of smells I was sensing. Slightly distracted, Sabine pointed her chin at the residence door as she passed by with a massive bottle of vanilla. "She's upstairs in the kitchen, dear. Go on through."

Thanking them, I leapt across to the door (have to stay in character!) and up the steps to the kitchen. The oatmeal cookies were close, but I discovered the kitchen was empty of both them and Marinette. This was getting interesting, and for some reason, not finding the cookies was slightly maddening.

"Where are you, Princess," I whispered, shifting into tracking mode. Marinette's normal scent, usually so easy for me to pick up, was well masked behind the activity downstairs. I wouldn't locate her that way tonight.

I dropped to all fours and started to track the oatmeal, which seemed to cut through the other scents. Following it through the kitchen, I rounded the coffee table in the living space (I was reasonably sure the baking sheet had been briefly set down there) and skulked into the den (yep, there on the desk, too) before following it up the steps to the next floor. Pausing at the top of the stairwell, I lost the thread for a moment, only picking up the scent again when I passed by the towel closet (really?) and following it into the bathroom (okay, this was getting weird).

Backing out to the hallway, I thought perhaps the tray had gone toward Marinette's room. I crept down the hallway, sniffing and listening; the faint aroma of oatmeal appeared again just below the steps to her trapdoor. My feline ears couldn't hear anything up there, but I nonetheless knocked on the door before opening it.

The room was clear, but the smell was much stronger. I followed it to the computer desk, and then up the steps to her bed and the skylight. I started to smile. It was possible that my girlfriend had just led me on a wild goose chase.

I popped out the skylight, and there was Marinette, sitting on her chaise, and yakking on her phone. The cookies were haphazardly balanced on the edge of the pot I normally sat upon, and to my horror, looked a bit like they were about to tip over. Marinette was totally absorbed in her conversation, so I instantly vaulted from the skylight and landed just below the baking sheet, pressing it back up just as it threatened to empty its contents to the tile.

"Chat?" she asked as she disconnected from her call.

"Good evening, Princess," I replied from my back, paws holding up the baking sheet.

"Nice save," she said as she reached down and nabbed a cookie from the sheet. "You should try these," she added around a mouthful. "They came out pretty good! But they've gone cold - you should have been here when they were fresh from the oven."

"_Now_ she tells me," I groaned.


	26. Piano

**June 26: Piano**

_Author's Note: Icarus and Chubby Unicorn Mama are responsible for the tooth rotting sweetness of this story. I (CM) want to give full credit to Ic for the beautiful song, because that was all him!_

_CM: So we've decided that our best course of action is to have Icarus serenade the fine folk at Zagtoons. Instead of singing for his supper, we're having him sing for the rights to the Miraculous. And since our old lawyer's number no longer seems to be in service, Miraculous Fanfic Lover has offered hers in return for cookies and coffee! And yes, guys, she did some great drinking at the bar when I took her, so I'd say she's definitely passed it! _

_Ep: Don't worry, I added extra fluoride to everyone's water once I saw the outline for this story. Now they can enjoy it without worrying about excessive dental bills. And I second CM's note: if this whole writing thing doesn't pan out, Ic can fall back on his musical talents._

_Ic: Um… (offkey) do re mi fa so la frodo… not sure that's a good idea, y'all. _

* * *

Ladybug followed her leather wearing partner as they danced across the evening skyline, following his silhouette as if she was his very shadow. With the large round moon illuminating the heavens, she could almost imagine herself as Chat's shadow, mimicking his every step. She had recently found herself more and more drawn to being around him, and now she longed to be close to her friend.

She didn't have a crush on him, of course. That would be… stupid. She just liked being around him. She felt happy around Chat, that was all. They were friends- best friends, and they were partners, but they would never be more than that, and they both knew it.

Of course that didn't mean that Marinette would dream of separating for patrols, or sending Chat away on his biweekly visits to her home (sometimes triweekly if she was lucky).

But they were just friends. He was friends with Ladybug and he was friends with Marinette.

Ladybug took a moment to admire the glossy black figure before her. He had always been well built, but the years of diligent heroics and whatever he did as a civilian left his muscles defined beyond imagination.

Naturally her admiration was purely professional. After all, a hero with physical strength was a useful asset, and Chat's muscles had come in handy plenty of times. He was strong, the kind of strong that every girl dreamed of in a husband… and every fearful Parisian dreamed of in a hero.

They stopped as they entered a park. She watched Chat walk to one of the tables where dozens of small wooden pieces lay, undisturbed by the night.

"Too bad. Black had a checkmate in two. I suppose they must've ended the game to avoid playing in the dark. A benefit of the additional rods in my cat eyes," he said, smiling softly.

Of course she couldn't see him smile, but she could hear it in his voice. It made her happy, a friend who could smile so warmly that even his voice showcases it could calm even the most worried of people. Many times he had done so for her as Marinette when she found herself fretting about a design or stressful deadline looming overhead.

And obviously it helped him as a hero. With the need to comfort Akuma victims and whatnot.

She looked at him, still examining the board.

"Yep, black just had to make the right moves and a checkmate would have been inevitable. There are 37 ways that final sequence could have played out, and they would have won regardless of what white did."

Ladybug smiled. It had become more and more clear to her over the years that Chat was secretly brilliant. He had originally given her the impression that he was a bumbling buffoon. She had assumed he was the joker of his friend group, but over time he had proved that initial evaluation to be false.

He had helped her with homework: Math, Science, even multiple languages. He had tutored her in the tactics of fencing to help her impress a boy she used to like. She had learned that he was a chess master. And she was even surprised to realize that once or twice he had helped her design a few dresses. It seemed that regardless of her appearance as Marinette or Ladybug, Chat was slowly showing bits of his inner self, the sensitive parts that he hid from the world.

Before she could say anything, Chat turned to her.

"Sorry LB, I was a bit lost in thought. We are almost done with the patrol, and I don't need to be wasting your time."

"Oh, your not wasting it Chat. I love every moment I get to spend with you," she consoled.

At that he bowed gently, and then leapt off, hoping to finish the patrol before the morning.

As they floated from rooftop to rooftop in a synchronized manner, Chat once again stopped.

Ladybug looked at the rooftop they were on. It was a rather abandoned looking part of town, and the roof reflected that. On it was rotting wood and a lone piano.

When Chat touched a paw to one of the keys, it let out a soft, but on key ring of a C note, surprisingly enough.

"No," she thought to herself,"there is no way Chat is a musician too. No one is that amazing… As a hero."

But he was in fact a musician. He allowed his clawed fingertips to dance along the keys, playing a sweet melody that she couldn't quite remember. As he finished. He allowed his foot to hold the sustain pedal, allowing the final note to flow across the rooftop.

She couldn't help it. Ladybug actually clapped in response.

Chat turned to her, his face red with embarrassment.

"Chat,I didn't know you could play the piano. What is that song called?"

He flushed even brighter red, a color she could only see because of the full moon overhead.

"I actually wrote it myself. It's called "A Secret Love Confession", it's a song that I wrote for a friend… a way to tell her how I feel...well… sort of…"

Ladybug felt her heart tie up into a knot. Who was this slimy little… girl who had taken HER Kitty's heart?

"Sort of? What do you mean?" She asked, fearing the answer.

"Well, I have words for it as well. But I'm not going to sing them to her when I play the song," he admitted.

"Hence 'Secret Love Confession'. Got it. Well would you play them for me?" She asked.

Instead of responding, he placed his fingers to the keys and again began the melody.

"You are the only girl that I'd like to get to know.

I am lovestruck with you, but I hope it doesn't show.

You make me better than I could hope to be.

I only hope that you might want to be with me.

A million years will go by,

And my heart belongs to you.

I swear that this is not a lie,

And I swear my love is true.

You're the air breath, the sun to me.

You're everything I could ever need.

You are hope, and love, goodness we all see.

You are everything right with this world, and right for me.

But I'm a coward, and I'm afraid,

So I will not dare to say:

I love you."

Tears spilled down her cheeks as he let the last note faded, his tender soliloquy put to rest. Her tears were partially there because it may have been the most beautiful song she had ever heard. But maybe there was another reason why the song struck a chord.

"Now, I've kept you up past your bedtime. Goodbye M'lady, and goodnight."

Chat was gone before Ladybug could even gather herself enough to respond. She needed to find out more about this girl who her partner was so smitten with, and make sure she was worthy of him. Because he deserved someone amazing, not for any other reason.

Two days later, Chat and Ladybug met up again. Chat was all smiles and barely restrained exuberance. Ladybug smiled at him, and asked him if she liked the song. His smile flickered, and said he hadn't had a chance to play it for her, he was struggling to figure out a way to casually get her to a piano. He said that he was excited because his civilian self had been assigned to work with her on a school project, so he had a wonderful excuse to spend extra time around her, without their other friends.

Ladybug tried to tease information about this girl from her kitty, but he was surprisingly close lipped about her, saying that he didn't want to jinx it. The only facts that Chat would share, and he did so with a blush spreading across his face, was that this girl was beautiful, talented, thoughtful, and the kindest, sweetest girl in all of Paris. He said that his civilian self and her were friends, and he was trying to work out a way to get her near a piano, without it sounding like a weird request.

Chat was avoiding telling Ladybug that he's been visiting this girl as Chat, rather than his civilian self, and so he didn't mention it now, even though she suggested a few public pianos in different hotels, the potential for one at his school, and one in his house, which she now assumed that he had, since he played so well. If all else failed, he could always take a keyboard with him when they worked on their project together.

That last suggestion was the one that stuck with Chat. He thought that he could take the ZX20.4 keyboard that Luka and Juleka had loaned to him, set it up on her balcony, and then play the song for her. He was so busy planning things in his head, that it wasn't until Ladybug touched his shoulder, that he realized she was still standing there, waiting on him to start patrol. Grinning sheepishly at her, they headed out into the night.

At the end of patrol, before the two headed their separate ways, Ladybug smiled at her partner and wished him luck, telling him that she wanted to hear the full story the next time they saw each other. Chat Noir nodded, the nerves taking root in the pit of his stomach.

As she headed home, Ladybug thought over all the clues that her partner had given her about his mystery girl. If she knew who he was, discovering the girl would be easy, but she understood that if she knew the girl, she could work out who Chat was, since he told her they'd just been partnered up on a school project. She, herself, had just been partnered with Adrien, someone she was slowly coming to understand was, as he frequently said, was just a very good friend.

She'd been hearing the song that Chat played for her in her head since he played it for her. She'd even caught herself humming it from time to time, so when Marinette arrived home from school, collapsing on her chaise, the fact that she could hear Chat's song, floating around her, didn't surprise her. What did surprise her were the notes she heard swirling around her seemed to be coming from her balcony. The song wasn't in her head, it was being played for her, live.

Quicker than she ever had before, Marinette scrambled up onto her bed and through the skylight, practically tumbling out onto her balcony. Sitting on her flowerpot, keyboard on a stand in front of him, playing the same song that he had played for her (Ladybug her) just a few days ago, claiming it was for the love of his life… for her. He'd also said that they knew each other in real life, they were classmates. Partners on a project.

Chat had his eyes closed as he played Marinette's song. He heard the moment she stepped out on her balcony. He felt her eyes on him. He didn't look up. He couldn't look up. He played the melody, but he felt words deep in his soul. As the last note faded away, he opened his eyes, and smiled up at Marinette, nervously. She was looking at him, stunned, smiling, and staring at him as if she had never seen him before.

Nervously, Chat smiled back at her, with a slight blush on his face, he said softly, "I wrote that for you." Marinette nodded, still silent, thinking hard, and then she said the last thing that he ever expected to come out of her mouth at that moment.

"Adrien?"

"Ch-chat's my name," he corrected nervously.

"But you're Adrien, and you're in love with ME," she clarified.

Chat's mouth dropped.

"Wh-why do you say that? It's just a song." Chat can't keep the blush from crawling up his neck onto his face. "And why do you think I'm Adrien?"

Marinette thought hard before answering, but knew that she needed to tell her partner the truth. "Well, you told me that you and I were partners in a school project."

Chat looked like he'd been hit in the head with a bag of bricks.

"L-l-l-la-la-ladybug?" He managed.

"That's what they call me kitty cat."

She watched Chat pinch himself.

"Ouch. This can't be real. This is not happening. Crud," he muttered, coming to terms with the situation.

Marinette walked next to him.

"So… um… when I was talking to… uh… Ladybug about paling that song...uh… I basically… well, um...uh-"

"Yes, Kitty. You let me know that the girl you played that for was the love of your life. And then you proceeded to play it for me. Haha, which is probably a good thing, because I might've been akumatized if you had played that for anyone else."

Chat's mouth fell open. "Really? You mean you have feelings for me?"

She smiled. "Oh yes Chat. I have feelings for you. Ha, actually, I've been trying to fight off the fact that I'm totally in love with you too. And if Ladybug had known that you were gonna play for me, she would have told you to skip the scaredy cat routine and go straight for the kiss after the song."

"Kiss?" He asked questioningly.

Marinette let out a sigh. "You were always a bit slow Chaton," she whispered before placing her lips on his.

He allowed his right hand to support her head as he delicately let his claws curl into her hair. His left hand wove itself into her right hand. Marinette used her free arm to wrap around his waist.

The kiss deepened as Chat opened his mouth, and Marinette respond by pulling him closer. They remained like that, enjoying the special moment for a few minutes, though they felt like eternities had been born and faded into oblivion in the time they were together. Finally Chat broke the kiss and rested his head on Marinette's shoulder. Gently he sang into her ear.

"And I'm no coward, nor am I afraid,

So I will always dare to say:

I love you."


	27. Protecting You

**June 27: Protecting You**

_Author's Note: Epcot97 here. ChubbyUnicornMama and I originally tackled this prompt during MariChatMay 2019, and now have the amazing opportunity to revisit it again. This is an extension of the story we told back in May, so you might want to check that out before continuing, for in this edition, we find Marinette getting a bit frustrated with Chat's overprotectiveness. (Day 27 of _What Were We Thinking_)_

_Ep: Hey CM, I'm coming up short for schemes to take over _Miraculous_. I won't bother to stipulate to our readers that we don't own them. But do you have anything new up your sleeve?_

_CM: Uh… It's Summer. I'm wearing a tank top… no sleeves. _

* * *

Chat Noir stood watch atop the Bakery rooftop, perched on his railing and trying not to nod off. Ever since learning Marinette's true identity, and her determination to throw herself into the face of danger at any given moment, he'd quietly begun his own version of a protective detail. There was absolutely no way he would let any sort of harm come to the girl he loved, in or out of the mask; her injuries from their brush with ChangeMaker had rattled him, badly.

This was his eighth straight day at it. As far as Marinette knew, he'd returned to the mansion after his normal nightly visit with her at the Bakery; he had, in fact, simply redirected to a nearby rooftop and waited for her to turn out her lights before stealthily returning to his post. So far it had been quiet, save for the random bird alighting on the railing beside him. He tried not to think much of the fact that he wasn't even scaring a common pigeon.

He popped the top of a thermos and sipped the last of the coffee he'd brought, and blinked his bleary emerald eyes as the scanned the horizon once again. So far, he'd managed to keep up on his school work and duties as Chat, but he'd seen the beginnings of dark circles forming under his eyes and knew that sooner or later, someone at House of Gabriel would tell his father he was no longer camera perfect. Chat frowned, knowing that he could probably hide it a bit longer with makeup, but detested even considering that route.

A feline ear pivoted as he heard movement below him. Quickly, he snapped the thermos shut and pulled himself over the edge of the balcony, pressing himself against the wall and balancing his feet on a brick ledge. He heard the skylight scrape open, and light footsteps on the roof tile; looking up, he saw Marinette as she leaned against the very spot he'd been perched on, staring up at the stars.

Chat held his breath; he was just a meter below her, but she was so consumed in what she was thinking, she failed to notice her boyfriend freaking out below her. His feline eyes watched her, carefully, wondering what was troubling her an hour before sunrise, but also knowing that revealing his presence would lead to other questions he didn't want to answer. As the sky started to lighten, he also knew he needed to leave in order to be "woken" by Nathalie for school.

Chat's salvation came in the form of Sabine's voice calling up through the skylight. "Dear? Are you up? Do you want me to make breakfast for you?"

"Yes, maman," Marinette said, and she slowly turned away and headed back to her room.

Chat started breathing, and pushed away from the building to vault into the sky for his trip back to the mansion. He knew he'd need to be seen as Adrien back home, but he also felt the anxiety of leaving Marinette unprotected even for the short period before meeting up with her for school.

As Chat Noir was heading back home for another long day, Marinette was heading down the stairs to her family's kitchen. She was worried about Adrien. They'd had one wonderful date to the movies, and he'd been by to see her every night since they found out their identities, but something was wrong. Marinette thought about how stressed out and exhausted her kitty looked. She wondered if he was starting to regret saying that he loved the girl under the mask as much as he loved the mask itself. He was starting to get twitchy around her, jumping every time he heard the words 'akuma' 'Ladybug' or 'Chat Noir'. Since he sat only one row in front of Alya, this was, on average, every 45 seconds.

As he had, every morning that week, Adrien arrived to walk her to school. When Alya had teased him about it, he said that it helped Marinette get to school on time, and gave him the added bonus of having a sweet snack and a large coffee that his father didn't know about, and probably wouldn't approve of. Alya and Nino had exchanged a knowing glance, and grinned at him, suggesting that maybe they could go and grab some lunch at the bakery instead of staying at the school. The friends quickly agreed to the plan, heading to the same spot in the park they'd claimed as their own the week before.

This time, when Adrien stretched out in the sun, he was asleep within seconds. Nino went to wake him, but Marinette admitted that she was worried about how run down he'd been looking the past few days, and to let him sleep. He slept for almost an hour, dozing in the sunshine, as his friends sat and talked around him. Marinette had just stepped behind a tree into the open space to shake out the blanket downwind of where they were sitting, when Adrien awoke. He cracked an eye open, and saw Nino and Alya sitting close, chatting. He cracked the other eye, but didn't see Marinette anywhere.

Sitting up, the adrenaline spiking through his bloodstream, he screamed her name in panic. Alya and Nino turned to look at him in shock, concerned looks on their faces, while Marinette said softly, from about 10 feet behind him, "I'm right here." He spun around to see her, eyes raking her, making sure that she had sustained no damage while he had let his guard down. He still looked a little wild eyed, although his heart rate and breathing returned to normal levels.

Alya looked at Adrien suspiciously. "What's going on, Sunshine?"

Marinette jumped in and answered for Adrien, who still looked as if he wouldn't be forming complete sentences for a while. "I think it's my fault. You remember that akuma last week that was throwing change?" At Alya's nod, Marinette continued, "Well, it was right outside the bakery, so I went downstairs to see what was happening, and I was right there when the window was smashed in. I might have described what happened in too many details to Adrien, because he's been having nightmares ever since. Ladybug fixed me up, and I haven't had any issues, but, well, I think I scared him. I didn't realize he was so blood-averse." Marinette rolled her eyes at the last statement, showing what she thought of Adrien's new overprotectiveness.

Adrien caught her expression and frowned slightly; whatever he might have thought of it, though, he kept to himself as they cleared up their picnic bric a brac and returned to school for the afternoon. Despite the catnap he'd inadvertently taken during lunch, Adrien felt anything but refreshed and caught himself nodding off multiple times during Physics. His second wind hit as they packed up from their final class of the day and headed for the exit.

Marinette pulled him aside at the massive door, though. "I can get home just fine, Chat," she said quietly, hoping that by using his alter-ego's name, she might get through to her tired partner. "Go get some rest."

Stifling a yawn, Adrien smiled at her. "And miss out on time with you? Forget it!" he said.

"Seriously," she said, giving him her best Ladybug glare. "_Go home._"

Looking a bit like she'd slapped him across the face, he snapped backwards a bit and his smile faltered. "But-"

"No buts. Get a full night of rest and then we'll talk."

Something washed over his face, and though it took on the stubborn expression he often got when he was not entirely in agreement with Ladybug, he nodded solemnly. "As you wish, Milady," he said, with a touch of sarcasm. Adrien turned and headed for the mansion, alone.

Feeling as though she'd socked her boyfriend in the gut, Marinette was tempted to trail him to ensure he'd actually get home, but instead headed for the Bakery. Once he'd gotten some rest, she'd get to the bottom of this sudden overzealous protection streak he was exhibiting.

A block out from the school, though, she caught a flash of silver along the roofline and frowned. Marinette turned and scanned the roofline above her, knowing full well her quarry was capable of stealth tactics. Nothing was immediately obvious, so she continued down the street toward home, looking for an opportunity to confirm her suspicion.

It came at the massive plate glass window of a kitchen goods shop. She slowed down and stopped, looking for all the world that she was immersed in the finer points of pots and pans. Leaning in as if inspecting the price tag on one item, she caught the reflection of a pair of cat ears that quickly disappeared behind the brick facade of the roof opposite.

_Caught ya, kitty_, Marinette sighed as she stood up slowly and resumed her trek toward home.

Now that she knew where to look, she started to catch glimpses of black as it moved along the roofline, completely in sync with her path. She had to admit, he was taking his efforts to watch over her more seriously than she'd realized, and with a start, wondered if his exhaustion meant he'd been at it all night, too.

She sped up and arrived at the Bakery, and pulled open the door to the residence. She'd lost Chat about a half block back, but assumed he was nearby.

For his part, Chat realized too late that Marinette had used the window at the kitchen shop to discover her shadow. His reflexes - not to mention his mental acuity - were less than optimal, given how tired he was, but he'd managed to keep a lower profile from there to the rooftop he landed on that gave him an expansive view of both the Bakery and the surrounding area.

He'd watched her scan the skyline before entering the residence and had been tempted to wave back at her. As was his pattern now, he settled in to watch from afar until the lights went out in her bedroom; only then would he relocate to the Bakery rooftop proper for the remainder of his vigil.

As the late afternoon sunlight gave way to early evening, he lamented his impulsive decision to follow her earlier than normal. He'd arrived without his normal supplies and was especially missing the coffee pick-me-up. Chat took a few moments to leap between neighboring rooftops just to keep some level of adrenaline pumping, but by the time darkness fell and the lights in Marinette's bedroom were finally extinguished, he was considering breaking into the Bakery for toothpicks to keep his eyes open.

Twirling his baton in helicopter mode, he launched from his perch and crossed to the Bakery rooftop patio, gently landing on his normal chimney. The space was quiet, and despite himself, the chaise lounge was calling out to him - both as a cat and as a very tired teenager. Chat shook his mane to clear the cobwebs and quietly moved down to the railing, taking up his nightly spot protecting his princess.

Without his coffee, though, Chat found it increasingly difficult to keep himself awake. Twice he nearly fell forward from the railing and into the night; when he blinked and found himself flat on his back on the patio, having falling backwards on his third attempt, his fuzzy feline brain reasoned that maybe he'd be fresher with a quick catnap.

Setting his baton with a thirty minute timer, he curled up on the chaise and was instantly asleep.

Hearing the thump on her rooftop patio, Marinette set her plan in motion. She sent Tikki up to scout out the situation, the little kwami being as worried about her partner as she was. Tikki was back within moments, reporting that Chat was fast asleep on her deck chair. He'd set an alarm on his baton, but Tikki was pretty sure she could turn that off. Stealthily, Marinette opened the skylight leading outside.

Her partner, her _boyfriend_, she reminded herself, looked so sweet when he was sleeping. He looked much more like the calm, patient Adrien than the outgoing, pun-loving Chat, even with the mask and ears, when he was asleep. Marinette smiled down at him, then reached for the baton he held loosely in his hand. Following Tikki's whispered instructions, she was able to shut off the alarm, without waking him, or even removing it from his hand. She slipped back to her room and retrieved two blankets. One she tucked around him, the other she wrapped around her own shoulders as she sat next to his head, and gently ran her fingers through his hair, scratching around his ears.

A low purr rumbled in his chest, but otherwise, he didn't stir. Several hours later, Marinette was asleep, her head resting on Chat's leg, her hand slipped down, resting against his heart, comforted both by its steady bead and the thrum of his purr. Chat's hand had let go of his baton, which now lay next to him in the chair, only to cover Marinette's hand, which rested upon his chest.

Chat's eyes fluttered, as he surfaced from his dreams, and he lay still for a moment, trying to remember where he was. Marinette lifted her head, coming awake as the rumbling under her hand stopped. She looked at Chat and smiled sleepily, "Hey Hot Stuff. I distinctly remember telling you to go home and sleep. But, as long as you're getting sleep, I guess I can't be too picky. Let's go downstairs, though. It's getting a bit chilly out here. And Plagg is probably hungry."

Chat came fully awake at that statement, looking down at his girlfriend, and panicking a little, realizing that she'd caught him sleeping… and that he'd been sleeping on the job at all. "I'm sorry Princess. I was sleeping, when I should have been protecting you."

Marinette looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about silly kitty? You don't need to protect me. I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. But come inside. Let's talk."

The two of them dropped down into Marinette's bedroom. Quietly, she kept going down to snag some sweet treats for 3 of them, and a some extra cheese for Plagg. When she returned, Adrien was sitting on her bed, leaning against the wall, and eyes drooping closed. Plagg was curled up on his leg, the word 'cheese' being moaned on a shaky breath. When he smelled the camembert that Marinette brought with her, he floated over to her, smiling as she petted his head, then handing over his favorite cheese. He took it out of her hand, and Tikki popped out to grab a cookie and the two little gods flew off to chat.

Climbing up to sit next to her partner, Marinette held his hand as her thumb rubbed circles on the back of his hand. If he had been Chat at that moment, he would definitely been purring. Knowing that he was exhausted and needed to sleep, Marinette also realized that Adrien would probably be much more honest and forthcoming, so she decided to grill him before letting him sleep.

"So, Chaton." She started, laying her head on his shoulder. He cracked an eye open, before she continued. "Have you been out here every night?" Flushing slightly, he nodded. Feeling the movement of his head against hers, she asked him softly, "Why?"

"Princess. I let you get hurt. I cannot let that happen again." The look of guilt, sadness and desperation in his eyes, tugged at her heart.

"Adrien. That was NOT your fault. I made that decision knowing the consequences." She sat up to look him in the eye. "I am Ladybug. Putting myself in danger is my job. I know how hard it it. I cringe with every hit I see you take, but, Chaton, you cannot protect me all the time. You need to sleep, too. I could never sacrifice your health for the sake of mine. You matter, too. You matter to me very much." She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against his. Adrien's brain short circuited briefly, before he was kissing her back. He would agree to anything if she would keep kissing him like this. He was ridiculously disappointed when she pulled back.

"Chat. You can't follow me. You have to trust me to be able to take care of myself. If it makes you feel better, we can work something out where you can sleep here. That way you don't have to worry about me, and you can get some sleep."

Adrien sighed. "I know I don't need to protect you, Mari, but I want to. When I saw you get hurt, it destroyed me. When you showed up to fight, and I saw how hurt you were, well, I just never want you to have to go through that again. Sleep would be good, though. I can only drink so much coffee."

Marinette reached up and ruffled his hair. "Take your shoes off Kitty, and let's get some sleep."

Obediently, Adrien kicked his shoes off and lay his head on the pillow. When Marinette lay next to him, he reached over to brush her hair from her face. Kissing the tip of her nose, before tilting her head and capturing her lips for a more lingering kiss, then sinking back into the pillow and closing his eyes. Marinette tangled her fingers into his hair and gently scratched his scalp. He smiled tiredly, but was asleep within moments.

Marinette leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "I will always protect you, Chaton." She whispered, "Even if it is from yourself."


	28. Tangled

**June 28: Tangled**

_Author's Note: CM and Ep are responsible for this. Neither of us own Miraculous (yet) or Disney (although I'm fairly certain Epcot is a Disney princess in disguise)._

_Ep: Sadly, no - Disneyland Casting rejected my application last month. Apparently, I am "Chipmunk Height" and there are currently no openings for Chip. Or Dale._

_CM: Huh… no calling for giant princesses either. Guess we need to Chat height. _

_I made Chat a princess earlier this month, and then we get a Disney themed prompt, and well, I just have to make him a princess again. _

_Chat Noir: At least I get to wear my _normal _costume this time..._

* * *

It was movie night for Chat Noir and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. They were curled up in her living room, her tablet out, movie all cued up. It had been Marinette's turn to pick the movie, and from the way Marinette was smirking, he knew it wasn't going to be good news for him. He thought back to the week he'd had. The worst part was when he'd been sidelined from an akuma fight, and Ladybug had sent him to fetch Rena Rouge. That had been a revelation for him: Rena and Carapace were two of his best friends: Alya and Nino. He looked at the girl sitting beside him, and wondered why she hadn't been given a miraculous yet. If Master Fu ever gave him the opportunity to choose someone, he was picking Marinette.

He glanced over at her, and she smirked back. Settling herself against the pillows, Marinette hit play. It opened on a wanted poster of Flynn Rider. Was this because he'd been wearing all those skirts during that akuma attack where Ladybug had "fought" the dragon? He laughed, anyway, his love of Disney movies was well known. As the movie started playing, Marinette started pointing out similarities between his life and the movie. "Look, Chat! That's you up there in the tower. Mother Gothel is your father, keeping you placated, but not truly happy, and controlling every aspect of your life. If only you had a cute little animal companion like Pascal!"

Chat chuckled to himself. There was no way for Marinette to know, but he did have a cute little animal companion… one named Plagg, who was perfectly content doing nothing but sleeping and eating cheese, but who could turn him into Chat Noir. He had to admit that he could see the resemblance between his life and Rapunzel's: being locked away from all human contact, repetitively doing the same tasks and lessons over and over again, wondering when his life will begin.

Well, much of it did begin on that day he escaped his tower, and went to public school. He even met Marinette that day, who, while not a thief, definitely had a passion for life, and had let him on many exciting adventures, including seeing a movie of his mom!

As the movie continued onward, Chat contentedly snuggled a little more around Marinette, well aware that his body heat (and the gentle thrumming of his purring) would soon put Marinette to sleep. He began to realize he was catnapping through parts of the movie himself, though, and at length gave in to the temptation to rest his heavy feline eyes for just a little bit.

Chat found himself unsurprisingly in the very tower he'd just seen on the tablet, perfectly recreated by his imagination right down to the rough edges of the granite stone. He was holding a broom in one black-cladded arm, and a tiny iguana-like critter was perched on his opposite shoulder. Ordinarily he would have found it strange, but he instead smiled and then burst out laughing as the little chameleon tried to find the right color and pattern to match his costume. "Come on, Plagg," he said, assuming that this was _his_ dream after all. "How can I have been stuck up here with you these thirteen years and you _still_ can't get the color right?"

Plagg glared at him (much like his kwami would, he noted) and stuck his long tongue out at Chat, who continued to chuckle as he worked his way across the stones. The space was spotless, of course, since he'd swept it just yesterday morning - and he'd sweep it again tomorrow. He found himself at the massive window, and set aside the broom to hop up and perch, cat-like, on the ledge.

Father Gabriel had forbid him from ever leaving the tower; leaning across the edge, though, didn't feel like it broke the rules. Leaving is why he only had Father Gabriel in his life, for his mother had ventured into the forest for raspberries, alone, when he was a few years younger and had never returned. Chat had plenty of memories of her, and an ache in his heart that never completely went away.

Scanning the valley below his tower, not much had changed from when he had looked out an hour earlier. Father might return today, or he might not; his forays out into the cruel world searching for Chat's mother had an unpredictable length to them, so Chat tended to make sure his space was always ready, just in case. But wistfully, he found himself wishing he could leap away from that window and help join in the search.

Or, at least explore. Just a little bit. He was intensely curious about the world outside his window and the longer he stayed up there, the more tempting he found the desire to leave. Father's admonition notwithstanding, Chat _knew_ he was missing out on something.

Especially those fireworks that happened once a year on his birthday!

He glanced back over his shoulder to the sketch he had made a few months earlier. (_Wait a moment_, meta-Chat thought to himself. _I'm not the artist in this story - let's change that scene just a bit, shall we?_)

Chat glanced back over his shoulder at the makeshift calendar he had created on the wall; it was just three days from his birthday, which meant the fireworks show would be visible at dusk on the third evening. How he longed to be there - wherever _there_ was - to see it in person! Chat would give anything to be able to make the trip.

He was startled out of his reverie by a call from the valley below him. He turned his eyes toward the sound and saw a beautiful young girl with ravenette hair running across the field toward him. She was wearing riding boots, trousers and a white blouse with a leather vest over it and appeared to be escaping from something. "Hey!" she called out again. "Is anyone home?"

"Yes, Princess," Chat called down. "I don't usually get many visitors, though," he smiled, shrugging at the distance separating him from the floor of the valley.

"Look," she hollered back up, cupping her hands as if they were a megaphone, "I need a place to hide for a bit. Can I come up there?"

Sensing an opportunity, Chat nodded. "Of course. Hang on a moment," he said as he trotted back inside the tower. He had a special staff that Father had given him that could extend down to the valley; grabbing it from the bookcase where he stored it, he thought briefly about what trouble he would be in having a stranger in the tower, but his intrinsic desire to help someone in need trumped any concerns he might have had.

Running back to the window, he carefully triggered the magic that extended the staff and lowered it. "Grab this and I'll pull you up!" he said with more cheer than necessary, masking with a smile just how very lonely he actually was.

The young woman wrapped herself around the staff and it rose up with her; Chat easily pulled her into the space and gently let her down. "Purrfect," he smiled, and held out a paw. "I'm Chat! Who are you?" he asked, eyes twinkling. Since it was his dream, after all, the young woman was, in fact, a version of Marinette - had Marinette been a thief. Her hair was roguishly done, but she was as attractive as ever.

"Marinette Rider" the young woman answered grinning up at Chat. She held her hand out to the blonde boy with the cute cat ears, dressed all in black standing in front of her, her other hand protectively covering the leather satchel at her hip. Chat reached out and shook it. He opened his mouth to say something, when he heard Father Gabriel calling his name. Panicking, he shoved Marinette into a wardrobe, while waving to his father that he would be right there.

After making sure that Marinette was secured in the wardrobe, Chat snatched up his baton and headed to the window to let his father up. Father Gabriel poked around the tower, asking if there was anything different. Chat pointed to his newest picture on the wall, a picture of the fireworks that fire every year on his birthday, and once again begged to be allowed to go and see them. Gabriel explained just how harsh the outside world was, and that it wasn't somewhere that Chat could go. Gabriel would be too afraid of losing him as well.

Saddened, but unsurprised, Chat said that he understood, and offered his father some of the croissants that Chat had baked that morning. His father took one, and then said that he needed to head out again, and this time he would not be back before Chat's birthday. Used to it, Chat wasn't fazed, just disappointed that his father was leaving again so soon, but excited that he would be able to learn more about the girl in the wardrobe.

The girl in the wardrobe! He almost forgot about her. He was practically pushing his father out of the window so that he could go back to her. Finally his father's form disappeared from view, and Chat sprang immediately to the wardrobe to let Marinette out.

"Who was that?" She asked. "The one who keeps you trapped up here?"

"That's my father," replied Chat. "Father Gabriel. My mother disappeared a few years ago, and he spends his days searching for her. He comes and visits me, too, on occasion."

"So, what is this about wanting to see the fireworks?" Marinette asked.

"Oh!" Chat looked dreamily out the window. "They shoot fireworks over on the horizon every year on my birthday. It has been my dream to go and see them in person."

"So let's go."

"Ok! Wait, I can't leave. I want to go. Should I go? I'm going!" Chat said, far from decisively.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving, if you'll be so kind as to let me down. Come with me if you wish, but I am out of here."

Chat let her down with his baton, and then followed her to the ground, stopping a foot above the earth, then very slowly, carefully, reached out a toe to touch the grass, before yanking it back immediately. He then stepped down and started rolling around in the grass. Chat went through a rollercoaster of emotions, from on top of the world that he'd left his tower to beating himself up over the fact that he had disobeyed his father. Marinette waited for him, reasonably patiently as he went through the highest of highs, swinging from trees and vaulting over streams, to the lowest of lows. Marinette seemed entertained by him, but fidgeted with one of the two weapons she wore on her hips, a bright red yo-yo on her left side, a frying pan tucked into her belt on the right.

Finally she got Chat up and moving at a steady pace, more joyful and remorseful. She tells him about this lovely quaint restaurant called the Snuggly Duckling. Chat was amenable to visiting, and Marinette took him, extolling its virtues, and the hope and excitement within Chat's chest rose. Then, she threw the door open.

Seeing it was his dream, after all, Chat found himself entering a quaint Parisian cafe decorated from top to bottom in a rubber ducky motif - but a motif appropriate for a middle-to-high end establishment. Wallpaper containing tiny silhouettes of a duck were in the back wall; a counter suspiciously similar to one at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery ran along the far side with cafe tables randomly set out in the open space and along the windows carved into the tree. The proprietors greeted Chat and Marinette warmly, and Marinette, after once more taking in the dangerously skinny form of her travelling companion, ordered a half dozen passionfruit macarons and two cups of coffee.

Chat's masked eyebrows went up as they took their plates toward a table by the window. "Those smell fantastic," he said enthusiastically, spearing one with his claw and immediately popping it into his mouth.

"Whoa, kitty," Marinette laughed. "Try tasting the next one."

Flushing slightly, Chat carefully removed another from the plate and took a smaller bite out of it. "Sorry," he apologized. "As you might have guessed, I don't get out much. My meals consist of what I can make based on ingredients Father Gabriel provides. Nourishing, perhaps, but not as flavorful as this!" he said happily, raising the half eaten cookie to the sky.

Trying to hide her smile, Marinette found his lack of connection with society somewhat endearing. She couldn't get tangled with him; surreptitiously, she patted her leather satchel to ensure the book she'd liberated from the Earl of Moth's castle only that morning was still there. Fortunately, Chat's desire to see the fireworks happened to sync with her need to deliver her package to the castle. For the moment their two worlds aligned perfectly.

But as she gazed into his emerald green feline eyes and listened to him chatter on about his hopes and dreams (even starting to sing about them at one point, much to her embarrassment), the more she felt her heart start to become captured (catured?) by this oddly clothed young boy. Marinette's eyes kept going to those insanely cute cat ears, which seemed to respond to whatever emotion he was feeling at the moment; that tail of his at one point kept time with the jazz trio that had appeared halfway through their second cup of coffee, and he'd even joined them on piano for a set, shocking her with his virtuoistic touch at the ivories.

Marinette was so lost in Chat Noir that she nearly didn't catch the shadow that crossed the window. Chat _did_ see it, though, and paused in mid sentence. "Those guys don't look very happy," he observed, nodding toward the window.

She turned and saw dangerous looking knights wearing the colors of the Earl of Moth dismounting from equally menacing horses. Without saying a word, she grabbed Chat by the paw and hurried toward the counter. "Madame," she began to the apron wearing proprietor who looked a bit like Sabine, "is there another exit we could use?" She darted a glance toward the main entrance, which had yet to burst open with the Knights she knew were looking for the book. And her.

Chat was looking at her oddly. "Like a secret exit?" he said as he turned toward Sabine. "For emergencies?"

"Of course we do, dear," Sabine said, "every quality cafe has one." She reached over to twist the top of a macaroon holder that happened to also be shaped like a rubber duck, and the pastry display behind her slid into the wall, exposing a dark tunnel. "Good luck!"

Chat grabbed Marinette and the two dove into the tunnel. "I gather those Knights out front are not friends of yours?" he smirked as they pushed further into the darkness.

"No," she said. "Can we slow down? I can't see anything."

"Hold my paw," Chat replied. "I've got you covered - I have night vision."

Marinette reached out and felt him take her hand and they continued at a good clip into the darkness. "They are right behind us," he said a moment later.

"How can you tell?" she asked. As far as she was concerned, she was both blind and deaf - other than their own footfalls and the gentle whistle of the wind through the cave, she heard nothing.

"I can hear their chain mail as they run," he laughed. "We're coming up on a fork. Left or right?"

"Which way smells fresher?" she said impulsively, reasoning that if he could see and hear better, smell wouldn't be far off the list.

She was rewarded by hearing him sniff the air. "Left!" he cried and they were off again.

Despite how fast they were running together, Marinette began to hear the jangle of metal-on-metal that presaged the appearance of their pursuers. Unexpectedly, Chat lifted her up and held her against his costumed chest, and then began to vault along the passageway in massive bounds. "They'll still catch us," he said, and she was amazed that he wasn't even breathing hard. "But this will put some distance between us."

The wind was whipping her hair, they were moving so fast; she had a hard time believing Chat couldn't outrun them. Gradually, the tunnel began to lighten and she caught the scent of fresh air herself. Chat had to have sensed it too, for he redoubled his efforts and they shot out of the cave entrance only to come to a skidding halt at the edge of a very massive cliff.

Chat spun and saw aside from the cave they had just exited, they were left with scaling a sheer cliff above them or (as he turned) hitching a ride on some sort of sluiceway from a rickety old wooden dam towering next to the cliff. "Up or down?" he asked. "Since you know your way around these parts, Princess."

"It's 'Marinette' or 'Rider,' Chat," she reminded him. "And I've not been on this side of the valley."

As the rumbling from the cave grew louder, Chat made a snap decision. "Hop on my back!" he said urgently, and once Marinette had latched on, Chat vaulted onto the sluiceway in an easy move. Using the rubbery soles of his boots, he deftly surfed the slimy waterway, carefully navigating his pathway with a claw here and there against the rotting wooden timbers. His eyes widened, though, as the entire structure took on an unfortunate harmonic; he'd overestimated how well it would handle their combined weight, and in just a few seconds, it had gone from swaying slightly to trembling significantly.

Looking up, they were still several hundred meters from safety. Looking behind, he could see the Knights of the Moth had arrayed themselves on the ledge, so going backwards was not an option. Frantically he tried to think through his options, and just as the entire structure started to break apart, he slipped his baton out and extended it slightly, and twirled it as fast as he could, trying to mimic the dandelion seeds he'd watched gently floating across his valley.

They lifted out of the sluice and he thought he'd gotten them far enough to safety when his tail became caught up in the cascading timbers. Down the two of them fell as Chat frantically tried to yank his tail free from the water and wood mess. Just as the gravelly sand of the dry riverbed was reaching up to them, he managed to break free and curl around Marinette, rolling the two of them across the sand and into a small cavern at the base of the cliff.

As they sat there in the semidarkness, a thunderous cracking sound rolled down the river valley, followed by the massive _whooshing_ of hundreds of millions of liters of water suddenly losing their bonds. Arranging Marinette behind him, Chat moved to the entrance of their small cavern and peeked out carefully.

A wall of water hundreds of meters high was washing across the valley toward them, pushing the debris from the dam ahead of it. Massive boulders were twisting around as if they were marbles, and all of it was headed directly for them.

Chat turned back to Marinette. "How far back can you see the cave go?"

"Not far," she quickly answered. "I'm against the rear wall now."

Chat ducked back out again. The wall of water was hardly a hundred meters from them now, though it's height had shrunk by a third. He scanned the cliffs, but there was no fast way up and out; however, his wide cat eyes fell upon a massive rock outcropping jutting away from the sheer wall of the valley. He glanced back and confirmed that Marinette was still safely in the cavern. Did he dare use his secret power? In front of a stranger? The rumble of the approaching disaster was enough to spur him into action.

Raising his right hand, he cried out: "Cataclysm!" Once he felt the familiar sensation of power rushing to his hand, he vaulted up and clawed as close as he could to the outcropping, then brushed his popping fingertips along the base before dropping back toward the cavern. Immediately the stone began to crumble, crashing forward and away from him and forming a rough cofferdam around the cavern entrance. As the dust settled he hoped fervently enough stone had come loose to protect them.

The wall of water slammed into the new pile of stone - and was turned back toward the main channel of the valley. A few geysers of water shot through cracks here and there in the stone, one of which nailed him on his massive blonde mane, but as he shook the water out he couldn't help but smile. It had worked!

"How did you do that?" he heard from the cavern behind him.

"Magic." The word was out of his mouth before Chat thought about it.

Marinette looked at him in disbelief. "Magic? Yeah, I'm not buying it."

"No really. Watch!" Chat held his right hand aloft and, making sure that Marinette was watching said, "Cataclysm!"

She watched the darkness swarm and bubble in his hand, and then he reached out one finger and touched a small rock at her feet. It dissolved instantly. Marinette gasped in shock and involuntarily took a step back. "How?"

"I told you, Princess… magic!" Chat held out his hand. "When I was a baby, I was given this ring. Once on, only I can take it off. It has grown with me over the years, and has the power to harness the forces of destruction. I have the power to tear down any wall, physical or metaphorical. I just have to say the magic word." At Marinette's eye roll, he added, "No, not please."

"If you've had the power to break through any wall all this time, why haven't you broken out of your tower long before this, Chat?"

Chat looked at Marinette, his mouth slightly agape. The idea of disobeying had simply never occurred to him before.

Marinette shook her head at him, and poked her head out of the cave. She couldn't see the knights, but didn't want to risk it just yet. Reaching into her satchel, she pulled out the book and checked it over carefully, making sure it wasn't wet, before re-wrapping it and placing it reverently back in her bag. Then she pulled out a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese and 2 apples. She sat down on a dry patch of floor with Chat and offered up some of the food to him. He sat and ate, gratefully.

After they had eaten and were rested,they climbed out of the cave, still having several hours before the sun set. Marinette was able to get them back on the path to Corona. They set up camp for the night as the sun was setting. Marinette was off gathering firewood, and Chat was sitting in the clearing when he heard footsteps approaching, the tread much too heavy and measured to be Marinette's.

Grabbing her satchel, Chat dove into the woods, his dark costume hiding him in the shadow drenched thicket that surrounded the clearing. Seconds later Chat pulled himself even further into the darkness that surrounded him, for the man in the clearing was none other than Father Gabriel himself. Freezing in place, his cat ears twitching, Chat watched the progress of his father through the clearing, until he'd disappeared from view. He didn't step out of his hiding spot until the sound of boots in the undergrowth had disappeared.

He'd just finished setting up their campsite, not that there was much to set up, but he straightened the rocks around the fire circle, and moved her bag seven different times, when Marinette reappeared. As they ate the last of the food she had packed, and they sat staring into the roaring fire, Marinette mentioned that they were about an hour's walk from Corona, and they would be there fairly early the next morning, depending on when they set out.

True to her word, they arrived at the city gates mid morning, on the day of Chat's birthday. They would have been there much sooner, but Chat slept in after the exhaustion set in from the previous day's exertions.

Marinette had to deliver the book that was in the bag, so she gave Chat the opportunity to come with her to deliver the book to Spymaster Fu, the head of the King's secret services. She knocked on the door of a discreet and slightly shabby looking tea room near the main gates of the city, but slightly off the beaten path. She greeted the young woman at the door with the words "spots on" which seemed to be a password that got her back to see an old man wearing a red changshan with a white floral pattern embroidered on it.

Bowing, Marinette handed the book over to Spymaster Fu, who reverently took it, before turning towards Chat. His eyes narrowed, and focused on the boy's left hand, and then he gasped. "That is the ring that the young prince was wearing when he was kidnapped. The cat miraculous. Where did you get it?"

Chat's eyes went round and ears straight up. He glanced from Spymaster Fu to Marinette Rider and back again, and felt his heartbeat pick up. "Father Gabriel told me it was given to me as a baby; I was wearing it when he found me."

Fu's eyes narrowed further. "You were _found_?" he asked carefully. "By Gabriel?"

"Yes…" Chat answered, somewhat at a loss. "That's what he's always told me. Thirteen years ago - well, it'll be thirteen years ago in a week - he found me in a basket out in the dark forest." He'd seen the knowing look that had passed between Fu and Marinette. "Am I in some kind of trouble?" he asked hesitantly.

Fu moved toward the cat-costumed teen and placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, my child," he said gently as he looked back at Marinette. "Where?" he asked simply.

"There's a tall stone tower two days travel from here," she answered quickly. "It's in an extremely well hidden valley; I only found it by chance as I was trying to avoid the Earl of Moth's knights. Chat was in it and apparently forbidden from leaving." She hadn't realized in his angst, Chat had taken ahold of her hand in one paw, and she, in turn, had been making little circles against the back of his paw with her thumb to calm him down. Marinette turned and looked into his emerald eyes, saw they were filled with an uncertainty he'd never experienced before, and felt herself start to soften toward her essentially abandoned kitty. "I agreed to take him to see the fireworks… for his birthday."

Fu's expression shifted so subtly, Chat almost missed it. "Your birthday?" he asked Chat

"Yes," Chat said as a slight flush crept up his neck. "It's today."

"Today," Fu repeated.

"Today," Chat echoed back, and Marinette felt him tense as if he were about to bolt. "I shouldn't be here, should I?" he said. "I… I really should get back, in case Father Gabriel needs me."

He started to pull away from Marinette, who for some reason she couldn't fathom, refused to let him go. Something about him had caught her; whether he understood it or not, Chat was in a bad situation, and she was going to do something about it. It didn't hurt that she kind of liked his quirky outlook on life, not to mention that insanely skin tight costume of his, carefully highlighting all of those muscles…

Realizing she'd suddenly started losing focus, Marinette snapped herself back and gently tugged on his paw. "Chat," she said softly, after first getting a confirmation nod from Fu, "We think you're the missing prince."

"_What?_" Chat cried out. "Missing who?"

"The missing prince. You're the reason they do the fireworks each year on this day; the King and Queen have been searching for you for years - well," she corrected, "for thirteen years. The fireworks commemorate their loss, and their heartbreak they've not found their stolen child."

Chat stared at Marinette, slack-jawed. "That's not possible," he said. "Father Gabriel has told me repeatedly I am nobody special; I wouldn't be here without him." She could see tears starting to form in those wide eyes. "Whomever my parents might have been, they certainly _can't_ have been the King and Queen. No one has ever come looking for me!" He choked back a sob. "You're the first person who has ever _found_ me!"

At that, Marinette's face took on a quirked smile. "I'm pretty good at finding hard to locate things," she said. "Master Fu says I have luck like no other."

"This is some sort of huge mistake," Chat said, his tail was thrashing as he started to pull harder at his paw. His eyes widened as Marinette clamped down on it with her own hand. "Let me _go_!" he found himself growling.

"No, Chat -" Marinette started to say, but he was extraordinarily strong and wrenched his hand out of hers; before she could react, he had vaulted for the exit, his tail fluttering behind him.

"He's in grave danger," Fu intoned. "You _must_ bring him back to the King and Queen."

Marinette thought about objecting - clearly the cat-themed teenager wasn't remotely interested in returning to the fold, as it were, but again, something quelled it on her lips. She'd seen Chat's lonely existence back at the tower and knew in an instant she needed to convince him that was _not_ where his future lay. She nodded toward the Spymaster. "Of course," she said quickly as she broke for the door herself at a full run.

Though Chat only had the briefest of headstarts on her, she skidded to a stop on the cobblestones and did a complete circuit without seeing any trace of him. She frowned, for how hard could it be to pick out a human-sized cat in the crowd? Turning again, she happened to glance up at the castle walls and caught a glimpse of something black moving quickly between parapets.

Grimacing, she bounded away below Chat making a mental note that, well, he was a _cat_ and clearly capable of leaping. And running: her frown deepened, for she had nearly caught up to him when she saw him kick in another gear, hurling himself across a side alley and onto a slanted roof over one of the less-refined hostels in the city. In his hurry, though, he'd apparently misjudged the angle and missed his purchase. Frantically clawing at the tile, she saw him start to slide uncontrollably down.

Cat or not, she wasn't about to risk getting him injured. Deftly, she pulled the yo-yo off her hip and quickly looped it around the sign for the hostel before it snagged her falling travelling companion by his legs. She grunted slightly as she yanked the yo-yo taught, and then turned to face him as he gently swung from the end of her line. "Chat," she smiled.

"Princess," he said a bit sheepishly. She had to admit, he was a bit cute hanging there upside down with that slightly lopsided smile he used on her. And yes, she had noticed it was something reserved for _her_. "I have a feline I am about to see things your way."

"Spot on," she laughed, despite the situation. "But not before you see the fireworks tonight."

His eyes widened in surprise. "But-"

"A promise is a purromise," she said as she gently lowered him and untangled his legs from the yo-yo. As she replaced in on her hip, she continued. "Come on, let's find a good spot down by the lake; while we wait for dusk to fall, I'll fill you in on what I know about this lost prince."

He nodded as he stood up and dusted the hay from his black leather. "And then what?"

"You're a big cat," she smiled. "You can make up your own mind."

He looked at her closely, and she could see his ears were wilted slightly. Despite herself, her heart broke at how torn Chat was; her anger at whatever lies Father Gabriel had been filling his blonde head with, however, grew just as exponentially. Pasting her best smile on her face, she held out her hand. "Join me? Please?"

Wordlessly, he took her hand into his paw, and she let him through the gathering evening toward the shore. They found a spot close to the wharf, and settled in; Chat was quite close to Marinette, actually, closer than she normally allowed anyone to get. Trying to ignore his _very_ physical presence, she began to explain what had happened; that, thirteen years earlier, the King and Queen welcomed their heir to the throne with much pomp and circumstance.

The entire kingdom had rejoiced in the happy occasion, and in keeping with the Kingdom's traditions, the young prince had been given the Cat Miraculous - the sign that as the first born, he would be the protector of the Kingdom and its subjects until the day he had his own heir. Only the prince could wield the Miraculous, and only the prince could renounce it, though no one could recall it happening in generations.

And then the unthinkable took place, for several nights later, once the celebrations had quieted down, an unknown enemy had breached the castle's defences and kidnapped the prince from his nursery. No trace had ever been found, though for the past decade and more, it wasn't without effort. The King had sent search parties to the four corners of the Kingdom and beyond.

"That ring of yours," Marinette added as the last rays of sunshine slipped below the horizon, "that, Chat, is the Cat Miraculous of legend. You yourself told me that only you can remove it. Who told you that?"

Chat's masked wide green eyes glowed softly in the darkness, and she could see him struggling. "Father Gabriel," he said at length. Then: "He's been lying to me, hasn't he?"

"I think so, yes," she said quietly. "For what reason, I could only guess."

"It's my power, isn't it?"

"Perhaps," she answered, then despite herself, she wrapped an arm around his costumed torso. "We'll find out, Chat," she said. "But for now, you're home. There are people here who love you very, very much and miss you dearly."

"They don't even know me!" he said, and she could feel how palpable his anguish was.

"They _do_," she insisted firmly, only partially thinking of the royals, but further conversation fell away as the first rockets flew into the night sky and brilliantly lit it from shore to shore.

Marinette and Chat leaned into each other as they lay back to watch the fireworks. They sat in silence for a while, when Chat asked, "So these are all for me? These fireworks?"

"I believe so." Marinette Rider responded. "There's a birthmark, known only to the King and Queen, that they will use to check you are who we think you are. You'll meet them tomorrow."

"Come with me, Princess." Chat's voice was almost a whine. "I don't know them. I don't know how to behave around them."

Patting his arm, she said, "I'm not the royalty here, but, yes. I'll come with you."

Smiling, he settled back to watch the rest of the fire works.

The next morning, Marinette and SpyMaster Fu took him to meet the King and Queen. King Tom was a large man, but very kind, while his wife, Queen Sabine was very petite, but fierce. They smiled at him as he entered, and talked to him a little, trying to get to know him. Eventually, Queen Sabine asked him if he had a birthmark anywhere. Chat blushed and admitted that he did. He had two marks that looked like cat ears, directly above his belly button. The King and Queen looked at each other, and King Tom burst into tears. He grabbed Chat up in a fierce hug and murmured "My son!" over and over into Chat's hair. Queen Sabine joined in the hug, whispering "Adrien. You're home." Chat closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensations.

Suddenly King Tom started shaking him, saying "Chat Noir! Hey, Chat!" Opening his eyes, Chat realized that while Tom was shaking him, it wasn't the King Tom of his dream, but Marinette's father, up early to start the day's baking. He was laying on the couch, Marinette curled into his chest, with Tom kneeling beside the couch. "Hey, Chat." Tom said, realizing the boy was now awake. "I hated to disturb you, but I wanted to make sure that you got home in time that nobody there would be worried about you. You're always welcome here, all night if you need it, I just don't want to needlessly worry your parents."

Chat sat up, gently shifting Marinette from his chest to the couch. She murmured something about not wanting to go to school, then settled back down into sleep. Both males exchanged a glance and smiled down at the sleeping girl. Tom reached over and ruffled Chat's hair. "Go on, Son. Go home. And remember. You're welcome here any time."

Chat smiled up at Tom. "Thank you sir. I appreciate that."

"It's Tom, not sir. Take care of yourself."

Chat nodded and smiled, thinking to himself that Tangled is his new favorite movie.


	29. Matching

**June 29: Matching**

_Author's Note: Chubby Unicorn Mama here. I wrote this one based on a conversation Ic and I had about really wanting to see this akuma. I do feel the need to add that we don't own the rights to Miraculous Ladybug, although this box of supplies Ep got from the ACME company might come in handy. We also don't own any Warner Brothers characters, although we are considering passing ourselves off as the Warner Brothers (I guess that makes me the Warner Sister, Dot.) Which one of you is Wakko and which is Yakko?_

_Ep: I'm the cute one._

_CM: Sorry. Already called Dot._

_Ic: Lol, I guess I'm the other one._

* * *

Marinette was annoyed. Why were people even awake at 3 in the morning to get akumatized. She'd been dragged out of her nice warm bed, only to face off with an akuma who looked like Yosemite Sam, right down to the peashooters and waist-length red moustache. Every time Yosemite fired one of his guns, a little flag that said "pow" would come out, along with a fine mist that turned everyone it hit into Warner Brothers characters.

For the middle of the night, there was still a decent sized gathering of Bugs Bunnies, Daffy Ducks and Wile E. Coyotes, all chasing each other, and destroying everything around them. Over his shoulder, Yosemite Sam had a large sack with the letters ACME stencilled on them. Tucked into his belt on his left hip, next to his gun was a large paintbrush, also stenciled with the letters ACME. When Ladybug and Chat Noir showed themselves, getting in close, he whipped out the paintbrush and painted a tunnel on the side of the closest building, dashing away though it.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were a few steps behind him, but instead of smoothly passing into the tunnel as they both crashed face first into the building, sliding down the side, limbs askew. They both scraped themselves off the ground, and reached out to touch the 'tunnel', and found a solid wall with a thin coat of paint. With a glance at each other, the partners leaped over the building to follow the akuma.

Once they realized that the akuma was hiding inside the paintbrush, it was a fairly easy matter to snatch it and snap it in two. Once Paris was back to normal, the pair headed to their respective homes to transform back to themselves, and hopefully get a few more hours of sleep.

Marinette sat on her bed Ladybug melted away, grabbing a cookie from her stash for Tikki before flopping back on her pillow. Tikki turned to her chosen to thank her for the cookie when she gasped. "Marinette! Your eye!" Marinette snatched up her phone to take a look. Sure enough, her right eye was slightly swollen and turning dark. Marinette groaned, but shrugged. People were used to her coming to school with random bruises, nobody would think anything of it.

Adrien was studying his face in the mirror. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain away what he was seeing. His right eye was ringed in a dark purple bruise. It wasn't visible with the mask on, but without it, it was very obvious. On the plus side, he didn't have a photoshoot for another week, and chances of actually seeing his father were fairly slim, but he was pretty sure this was the kind of thing that Nathalie would share with Gabriel.

Explaining it to his classmates would also be a challenge. He couldn't exactly tell them that he ran into the side of a building thinking it was a tunnel while wearing a magical cat suit. He did have fencing practice yesterday, he decided to blame it on that, hoping that people wouldn't think about how it happened when they wore full coverage face masks. He fixed that thought firmly in his mind as he climbed into bed. Turning to say goodnight to Plagg, he noticed the little kwami was already lightly snoring in an empty camembert box on Adrien's pillow. Smiling down at the little deity, Adrien shifted the box over, and lay down on his bed, falling asleep almost as swiftly as his friend.

The next morning before school, Adrien did the best he could to cover the worst of his black eye with makeup. He looked in the mirror, and realized that it was still obvious, even with the thick layer of foundation, so he immediately wiped it off. He hated wearing the stuff, but would have done so to avoid questions. This time, he thought it might create more questions than it answered. He smiled at himself in the mirror, making sure it didn't look like a grimace, practiced his fencing excuse, and headed off to school.

Marinette grinned at her reflection before school. Yep, that black eye was looking good. And the best part about being a klutz was she simply had to tell the truth: she walked into a wall. Technically she'd run full speed into a wall, but that was just semantics, nobody was going to question her.

Arriving early at school for a change, Marinette was one of the first in her classroom. She waved at her friends already there, none of whom commented on her eye. In fact, the only commentary she got was a pat on the shoulder from Mylene, a sympathetic "Ouch" from Rose, and Alya's "Girl, what did you do this time." A friendly chuckle followed her explanation.

There was a commotion out in the hallway, and all eyes were turned towards the door when Adrien and Nino strolled in, Adrien sporting a black eye that matched Marinette's. The two stared at each other for a second, before Adrien was drowned in questions from their concerned classmates. The major difference between them, other than the concern shown by their classmates, was the mildly bloodshot nature to Adrien's eye, while Marinette's sclera remained white.

Telling the story he'd planned, Adrien explained that he'd been hit by a sabre during fencing practice, but he would be just fine. Alya was looking back and forth between him and Marinette, so he raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. She shrugged and tapped her right eye, mouthing the words "you match".

Adrien grinned and turned to Marinette. "So what happened to you? Obviously you're the first on the new fashion trend." He laughed, gesturing to their matching black eyes.

Marinette smiled. "Nothing nearly that exciting. I ran into a wall." Half the class shook their head, thinking what a typically _Marinette_ thing for her to do. "I'm fine though. I do this all the time.

They made it through their morning classes, and had just headed to lunch, when the Akuma alert went off. As both teens had been headed home, they didn't need to make excuses, merely slipped into different alleyways and called for their transformations. Her Ladybug mask hid Marinette's black eye, but Chat wasn't so lucky. The discoloration and swelling around the outside was hidden, but the bloodshot nature of the eye itself resulted in a darker and somewhat off colored right eye.

Ladybug did a double take when she saw Chat Noir. "Chat! Are you OK? What happened?"

Chat Noir's hand went up to rub at the back of his head. His practiced excuse popped out before he realized he could tell her the truth. Ladybug started at his response, but quickly focused her attention on the akuma: Mr. Pigeon… again. It was a quick fight, neither having to use their powers, and Ladybug grabbed Chat's arm before he could leave. "So, Kitty, fencing? Really? Don't you wear facemasks to prevent that sort of thing? What's the real story?"

Chat flushed slightly. "Sorry, that's the story I've been telling people. I ended up with a black eye from Yosemite Sam and running into that building. I just can't tell people that I ran into a wall." When Ladybug started laughing he looked at her oddly. She just shook her head, and kept shaking it when she realized where she'd heard the fencing story before. She froze, completely in shock. Looking around, to make sure they were truly alone, she whispered, "Adrien?"

He stiffened, which was all the confirmation she needed. "H-how? How did you know?"

It was Ladybug's turn to blush slightly. "Well, I heard you tell the story about the fencing accident this morning. It didn't ring true then. Now I know why."

"You heard my story?"

Ladybug appeared to be having some kind of internal debate, but eventually came to a decision. "I did. I also didn't lie when asked about my matching black eye. Nobody was surprised that I ran into a wall."

Chat Noir choked a little. In a hoarse voice, he whispered, "Marinette?"

She nodded. After a little more awkward staring, Ladybug took a deep breath and dropped her transformation. Marinette stood in front of Chat, black eye and all. They looked at each other matching black eyes meeting nervously. Marinette waved a shy 'hi' and Chat pulled her into a hug, placing a shy kiss on the top of her head. Marinette just snuggled further into his chest, her thoughts a perfect match to his.


	30. Paris

**June 30: Paris**

_Authors' Note: Epcot97 here along with the entire team. We've made it to the end of June (yay!) and can still feel our fingers. That means we've got one more story to round out our month of counter-Ladrien programming. Today we're triple-tag-teaming a sequel of sorts to _Flowers _(Chapter 19 of _What Were We Thinking? _over on ChubbyUnicornMama's profile, in case you want to be in on the joke). Based on his last outing with Marinette to see the springtime flowers of Paris, Chat thinks it might be safer to choose a different venue. That's his first mistake. _

_In all seriousness, having a chance to write with these two extremely awesome writers has been pure joy; I'm happy to report that we'll be teaming up again for LadyNoir July over on ChubbyUnicornMama's profile, so if you've enjoyed what we've done so far, follow us over there starting July 1._

_Alas, we still do not own _Miraculous_; not even a tiny little bit. I even drove to the ZAG store to personally make my case, but they must have known I was coming and had closed early. Too bad - I think that Chat Noir costume I could see through the window might have fit._

_CM: Ep, you mean the chipmunk sized one?_

_Ic: Ep could have squeezed in if he reaaaally believed._

_Ep: (closes eyes) I believe! I believe!_

* * *

Chat Noir helicoptered over the rooftops of Paris, enjoying the early spring morning. The sun was low on the horizon, casting long rays of warm light across the skyline; he could occasionally see his cat-shaped shadow dancing behind him as he made his way toward his girlfriend's home.

_Girlfriend_, he thought with a smile as he dropped onto a tiled roof, using it to vault back into the sky. _We've been together now for almost two years, and I still can't get used to using that word._

His feline sense of smell was able to pick out multiple varieties of flowers that were impregnating the air with their wondrously fragrant scents. It made him realize how much more he could appreciate nature as Chat, and he again thanked the kwami gods for selecting him to be a Miraculous Holder.

It had been a little more than a year since Marinette had experienced a rather unique allergic reaction to the pollen from the tulips while sketching the blooming spring flowers at Buttes-Chaumont. Chat had accompanied her on that similarly sunny day and gotten far more than he'd bargained for. He couldn't really argue with the outcome, though; by the end of the escapade, he'd learned the girl he was in love with also happened to be Ladybug and she, in turn, had discovered her unrequited crush had been beneath the mask all along.

The revelation of identity had subtly reframed their relationship. They had essentially been a couple, Chat and Marinette, for almost a year prior; after the Tulip Incident, they'd simply continued on, using the added knowledge to deepen their love for each other. It had become a primary color running through their already vibrant spectrum of romance.

He found his Princess waiting for him on the Bakery rooftop as he dropped down to his customary chimney flue. "Milady," he said, smiling the warm smile he only used with Marinette. "Are you ready?"

"Just about," she said. Beside Marinette was her bag of art supplies, and she knelt to fasten the last buckle as Chat vaulted down to perch next to her on the wrought iron railing. "I'd still prefer to go to Buttes-Chaumont," she said as she stood and turned toward Chat. "But given what happened last year, I understand your reluctance."

Chat reached out and drew Marinette into his arms, holding her against his chest. "We know what the pollen will do to you, bug," he said gently. "I'm not sure there is enough antihistamine in the entire city to prevent the reaction you had."

"No," she chuckled into the magic leather of his costume. "You have to admit, Trocadero is a bit passe for springtime sketching."

Marinette leaned up for one final kiss before slipping out of his embrace to pick up her bag. Chat hopped down beside her as she slung it over her shoulder. "Can we slip past your parents if I de-transform in your bathroom?" he asked, wary of changing on the exposed rooftop.

Dating a world-famous model made Marinette's forays out into public with Adrien somewhat challenging, but with time and experience, they had developed multiple strategies to cope with his enthusiastic fans. She grinned at his question, though, for it had only been marginally easier sneaking around with Chat. "Regardless of how I'd explain your arrival to them _were_ we to be caught, you're forgetting that I'm sketching you today."

Chat blinked. "Me? As in Chat-me? Fur real?"

"Yes, Kitty." Her smile widened. "I thought you liked hanging around with me as Chat?" she teased, watching as the flush slowly crept up his face.

"I do," Chat said defensively. "Wouldn't it be odd for you to be seen hanging out in public with Chat now? That's sure to hit the Ladyblog!"

"It's early enough," she said. "I'll do the angles I want as soon as we arrive, after which you can find a nice, quiet spot to become Adrien. Then we can spend the rest of the day together. As a normal couple."

Chat didn't look entirely sold on the idea, but it was Marinette, after all, so he nodded slowly. "As you wish, Milady," he said as he wrapped an arm around her and vaulted into the sky. They found the Trocadero relatively quiet given the early hour, and the two carved out a space on the upper terrace facing the Eiffel Tower.

Chat had picked the spot for Marinette, based on no little amount of scent research. Having meticulously examined the space and paid close attention to the wind currents that ran across it, he concluded that his partner would be unlikely to come into contact with the profusion of pollen they had encountered at Buttes-Chaumont. Chat was rightly concerned with protecting Marinette; given how wet the early spring had been, Paris was abloom in a way that had not been seen in more than a generation.

As Marinette settled in, Chat started to fold himself into position beside her but found his nose was twitching.

_Was that… a tulip?_ he thought.

Frantically, he started to scan the space, but couldn't immediately see anything. And the brief scent he'd picked up was gone before he'd truly registered it. Maybe it was nothing. After all, they were in a relatively far away from the Trocadero gardens, and he couldn't see any plants nearby, much less tulips.

And then he saw it. A single pink tulip fell between them. And then a second fell only a few meters away. The second was met by a loud booming voice. As Chat scanned the area around, he realized it was Mayor Bourgeois.

"You've all been waiting for it, and we are pleased to announce XY's new album: Pink Tulips from my Pink Two Lips. As an added bonus to this announcement, XY has arranged for a squadron of helicopters to drop 500,000 pink tulips around the area. Give it up for XY!"

Chat could see the tulips begin to rain down, and saw Chloe dancing around the stage, excited to be in the presence of her musical idol. He stood there with a look of arrogant indifference, staring at the crowd, and halfheartedly waving.

"500,000 tulips," Marinette whispered, visibly excited,"So many tulips… all the tulips… all for me!"

Chat began to guesstimate. 500,000 tulips was enough to fill the Trocadero gardens, placing a little over 5 tulips per square meter. He knew there was no way to avoid this. Things were about to get ugly in Paris.

"I'M LADYBUG!" Marinette screamed to no one in particular.

Chat already had his hand over her mouth. "Hey there Purrincess. That is special information. Remember, we don't share stuff like that?" he looked at her, hoping some subconscious part of her was lucid enough to understand the meaning behind his words.

She nodded her head in understanding and Chat let go of her mouth. Marinette quickly resorted to grabbing every tulip in sight as the pair stood on the terrace. Chat sighed, worrying about how he was going to get Marinette out of there without making a scene.

As he pondered a solution to the dilemma, Marinette came up to him, clutching a handful of the flamingo-colored flowers.

"Heeeeeey Kiiiiiitty. Look, Preeeeeetty," she slurred, while shoving a fistful of the fallen vegetation in his face. He also saw her shove her other hand in her pocket, presumably placing several flowers there for safe keeping. Chat reminded himself to remove them as soon as they were out of this minefield of foliage.

"Very nice, Marinette, but I just need a moment to think of a way out of this," he turned his back to her and began to plot.

It occurred to him that perhaps if he grabbed Marinette he could use his baton to launch them towards the Eiffel Tower. From there he could carry her back to the bakery, where he could make sure she had a safe place to recover. And perhaps he could tease his lovely girlfriend a little too. Chat smiled at the last part of his plan and turned to let Marinette know what was going on.

A sudden dread crept up on him as he spun in several circles. Marinette was nowhere to be found. The dread was then compounded as Chat realized that to get off the terrace so quickly, Marinette may have transformed to Ladybug. Or worse, she could have climbed down in her semi-coherent state. Worry twisted his stomach into knots, and Chat knew he had messed up by turning his back on Marinette. He laughed at it, perhaps that had some sort of symbolic meaning.

Chat tried to calm himself down. Marinette had only had a minute at most to escape. She either looked like a cute girl in a grey blazer and pink capris, or a cute girl in red with black spots. It should just be like a game of 'Where's Waldo', with the people slowly moving around. At least there wasn't an Akuma in the area to scare everyone.

"I AM THE SNEEZING SCOUNDREL. XY has pulled his last stunt. I just wanted to enjoy a day in the streets of Paris, seeing this city's beautiful sights. But these flowers and my allergies have made that impossible. Wait until you all have to suffer an allergy to pollen like me! Only your symptoms will be much worse!"

Chat sighed. An Akuma. Of course.

Splitting the odds, he popped open the Bug Tracker on his phone and frowned - the red ladybug logo was nowhere to be found, so it would be Marinette he had to locate. If as he suspected she was now fully under the influence of the tulips, how hard could it be to find a young woman swimming in them? Akuma notwithstanding, of course.

He flipped up to the edge of the wall ringing the terrace, and his eyes immediately widened; the entire plaza was full of people frolicking in the half million fantastically colored flowers and the millions more the akuma had started to add. Some were singing, others were dancing, and no few of them were making snow angels in the petals. But every one of them seemed to have the classic hay fever symptoms, too: red watery eyes accompanied by bouts of sneezing, both of which Chat could easily relate to. Fortunately, this wasn't _his_ particular allergy.

_Sneezing Scoundrel?_ he thought bleakly as he kept one cat eye on the akuma while vaulting around the plaza looking for Marinette. _That's not bad, actually, as names go. I wonder if this is someone who was more literary than our last few victims? Actually, do they get named by Hawkmoth? Not that it's important, of course..._

On his third pass, after ensuring that (other than the obvious allergic reactions) no one was seriously being harmed quite yet, he flew over a side walkway that was waist-deep in tulips. He'd been over it twice already, but this time around, a particularly recognizable pigtail was poking up through a hand-spun crown of petals. Rolling his eyes, he redirected and landed in a four-point crouch - and up to his chest in fragrant flowers.

Marinette was on her side, a very silly grin on her face. One hand held a flower, and she was examining it with the thoroughness of an archeologist uncovering a relic from the New Kingdom. Belatedly, she noticed her kitty staring at her. "I know you!" she said happily.

"Yes, Princess," he confirmed as he crept a bit closer to her.

She put the other hand to her mouth. "I know _both_ of you!" she squealed.

Eyes flying wide, Chat quickly looked to make sure they were essentially alone and then turned back to Marinette. Carefully, he put a claw tip to her lips. "That's our little secret, isn't it?" he smiled, using his megawatt model version.

Marinette clapped. "I _love _secrets!" she cried.

Chat was now close enough that he risked scooping her up; fortunately, she gleefully accepted the embrace, and augmented it by peppering him with kisses along the edge of his mask. "Such a good kitty," she said, then repeated the process a second time.

Feeling a bit of a flush creeping up his face, Chat opted to keep smiling and pushed up into the air on his baton, intending to get them to the Tower and some fresh air. But Marinette started wailing as they flew away from the flowers, as if she were being torn physically apart. It so unsettled Chat that he reversed course and wound up back at their original spot on the terrace. Apparently it was close enough to keep her anxiety in check, although he continued to keep a firm grip around her to prevent a second escape.

Not firm enough, however, as she reached into that troublesome pocket and removed the cluster of flowers she'd snagged earlier. "Smell these!" she cried as she jammed them into Chat's face. He was so surprised, he inhaled fully before he could stop himself and wound up spluttering and gasping for fresh air. It was enough to loosen his grip on Marinette, who vaulted out and over the edge of the terrace once more. Eyes watering, he watched in fascinated horror as she called on her transformation in mid-air, landing amidst the petals as Ladybug.

Wiping away at his eyes, he vaulted to the edge himself and found her backstroking her way across the plaza, a serene look of happiness upon her masked face. He could only hope the rest of the plaza occupants were so caught up in their own floral fantasies they hadn't seen anything. Knowing now where Ladybug happened to be, he searched the space for their akuma; somehow, he'd need to wrangle his partner _and_ the villain.

His eyes fell upon the stage that had been erected for the XY concert, and then widened as far as his masked eyes could go. Chat had seriously underestimated how angry this akuma was, for up on the stage, a massive, menacing tulip had bloomed; dangling just above it on a very insubstantial looking cable was XY himself, screaming as the cord lowered inexorably toward the flower. Chat blinked. It was just possible that the tulip was shaped similarly to the album art XY had stolen from another artist, and if he didn't miss his mark, the plant appeared to actually be hungry.

The day appeared to be rife with irony.

Sneezing Scoundrel was just off to stage left, holding what had to have been the controls for the cable, and looking for all the world like he was about to solve all of his problems.

Chat Noir was working out a way to get XY down from his precarious position, so he'd have more time to wrangle both his partner and the akuma, when he heard a ululating yell coming from his right and Ladybug hurtled across the stage, snatching the singer with a shout of "the giant flower is MINE!" She swung XY away from the stage, dropping him into the sneezing throng where he, ridiculous hair and all, melted away into the crowd.

Ladybug was standing next to the giant flower on the stage, stroking it softly and crooning to it. Chat shook his shaggy head, which did little to relieve the sinus pressure that was being caused by the flowers everywhere. He studied the akuma for a few moments, as it, in turn, stared at the giant flower on the stage. The tulip was acting like a puppy, nuzzling Ladybug and basking in her affection.

Distracted as the akuma was, Chat was able to walk up to it and grab the tissue box out of it's grasp. Calling out to Ladybug for a little luck, he waited until she'd called on her lucky charm and he ripped apart the cardboard. When the deep purple butterfly fluttered out, Chat, once again, called out to Ladybug who waved at the akuma before cleansing it. Chat went to the victim, who had been a victim of XY and Bob Roth' greed, and then akumatized by Hawkmoth for his righteous anger. Chat turned to his partner who sat on the edge of the stage, looking forlorn since her miraculous cure had removed ever last petal from the Trocadero.

Approaching his partner, Chat held out his hand and asked how she was feeling. As she let him pull her to her feet, Ladybug admitted that she was still a little woozy, but would be fine shortly. As Chat had not used his powers, he offered to let her return to her civilian form and then carry her home, so that she could get some rest. She agreed on the condition that he would stay with her.

Chat made a noncommittal noise that he knew Ladybug would take for assent, and escorted her to a secluded rooftop. Once there, Ladybug dropped her transformation and immediately slumped into his waiting arms; cradling her, he leapt once more into the sky, carefully making his way back to the Bakery with his precious cargo.

Having been under the influence of high-grade catnip on more than one occasion, Chat was well aware of what aftereffects awaited Marinette once she awoke. He didn't want her parents to worry, though, so he dropped with a nearly silent rubbery thump on the rooftop patio beside her favorite lounge chair and gently placed her into it. Marinette stirred slightly, and he waited a bit to ensure she was still snoozing before slipping down to the levels below to beg a water for her and a coffee for him; on his way past the bathroom, he liberated the bottle of ibuprofen for good measure (though he couldn't remember if it had helped him at all).

The blanket and cat pillow from her bed also followed him back up to the patio, the former he carefully placed atop his partner's slumbering form. Gently lifting her head, he slid the pillow beneath her, where Tikki took up a spot beside a pigtail.

Chat slid onto his customary perch on an overturned flowerpot and settled in, sipping his coffee and keeping watch over his Princess. Marinette slumbered right through lunch (much to his stomach's regret) and started to stir again as the last of the late afternoon sun slanted across the patio. Setting down his long-cold coffee, Chat leapt the short distance to the chair, and carefully pushed away a lock of hair that had fallen into Marinette's sleepy eyes.

"Welcome back, Princess," he said, smiling warmly.

"Ooof," was all she said, pressing her eyes shut. "My head hurts."

"I'll bet," Chat said. "I have some analgesics if you want."

She started to nod and then thought better of it. "Thanks."

He helped her sit up a bit, gave her the water and then shook a tablet out of the bottle into her palm. Grimacing as she swallowed, she cracked an eye at Chat. "Is this how you felt?"

"Yeah," he said. "You'll survive."

She groaned again. "I promise to never, ever, use catnip against you again."

His masked eyes wrinkled in humor, thinking back to a particularly interesting set of pranks they had played on each other a few months into their relationship. She'd ended it by exposing him to fresh catnip; after nearly destroying everything in her bedroom, he'd passed out cold on her bed, waking up hours later with an anvil behind his eyes. "I'm going to hold you to that, Princess," he laughed.

"And I never want to see a tulip again. _Ever_."

"That might be a taller order, Milady."

"Maybe if we move to Antarctica…"

He leaned down and kissed her. "Not really an option."

"I know," she said, grimacing again. "And I'm sorry. How much of a pain was I?"

"Not tulip much at all," he smiled, narrowly avoiding the punch aimed at his bicep.


End file.
